Old Friends
by LadyRaven-321
Summary: The news of a sick friend leads Vincent back to a place he once lived, Titan. Old memories begin to stir up from his childhood during his visit there. REVISED & COMPLETE R&R please and thank you!
1. Unexpected Visitors!

Disclaimer: The Biker Mice from Mars are not my original creations. I am just simply borrowing them.

This chapter has been beta read by Phyrbyrd. She has volunteered her talents to this story. The other chapters may also be transformed for better reading soon too.

Enjoy the story.

**OLD FRIENDS**

**CHAPTER 1 - UNEXPECTED VISITORS!**

It was mid-day when a small spacecraft that looked a little like a huge purple motorcycle without wheels descended gracefully from Earth's atmosphere and touched softly down in a large empty field, miles from civilization. The cargo bay doors opened wide and the ramp descended. Suddenly there was a screaming roar and three motorcycles came tearing out of the ship.

One of the riders stopped, turned and aimed a remote control at the now empty vessel. With one click of the button a cloaking device was activated and the ship vanished.

"Eeee-haaaaa!" With a whoop of triumph the three bikers rode off toward the highway.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Meanwhile, about a block away from Limburger Tower, the Biker Mice were enjoying themselves. Limburger's henchmen were making yet another attempt at destroying part of the great city of Chicago, and the mice were making sure they didn't get far. Each mouse gave the men a run for their money, and no matter how much Limburger's men attempted to fire their blasters at the mice they never seemed to hit. The mice teased and taunted the men as they chased them all the way back to the tower, then once inside, when the men felt they were finally free from the mice's attacks, three grapnels connected to the side of the building.

"Lets rock... and RIDE!" the Mice yelled as they rode off, taking the building with them.

Limburger, a beaten, battered Limburger, climbed out from underneath the rubble and shook his fist at the retreating bikers. "This isn't over! You hear me, rodents! This isn't over!"

OoOoOoOoOoOo

20 minutes later at the Last Chance Garage, Charley had just finished cleaning a few tail pipes for future uses. She lifted her head and smiled when she heard her biker boys return from a daily routine of foiling Limburger's plans. As she peered out through the opened garage door she could see the mice skidding up the driveway, making their usual grand entrance and winced a little as she thought how loud they could be sometimes when they come back from a battle. Nevertheless, she greeted them with a smile.

"I take it you boys had a successful time?"

"You know it, Sweetheart." Vincent winked at her.

"Yes, definitely," said Throttle.

"Whipped the streets with their slimy behinds," said Modo.

All three looked at her expectantly. "So, what's for lunch?"

Before Charley could say anything more about the subject the sound of three more bikes were heard coming up the street. Charley and the boys watched carefully as these strangers rode into view. Their bikes looked a lot like the Biker Mice's rides, but still there was something strange about these three.

"Ready yourselves. We can't be sure if we can trust these guys," muttered Throttle, swatting his knuck nukes on.

"Ease up, bro. I know these riders," said Vinnie confidently. Throttle and Modo looked at Vinnie, surprised, and Throttle noted the worry in his bro's eyes. How did Vinnie know these bikers, and if he did, what did he have to worry about?

The three strange riders screeched to a stop, surrounding the Biker Mice and Charley. Before anyone could react, they took off their helmets, revealing three Martian mice, all female, all white.

"Hey there, Sugar Pie. It's been awhile since we've seen you," said the one with the blonde hair, winking at Vinnie.

"Back attacha, Sweetheart," replied Vinnie.

"Interesting new look you've got there," she added.

"Been having adventures, babe. Mad scientists and all that jazz."

Charley noted the familiar tone and gritted her teeth. Vinnie had evidently known these girls a _long_ time.

"So what brings you to this side of Mars?" he asked with a cocky grin, but the suspicion was still there in his voice. The brunette apparently noticed, and when she spoke she was serious.

"We came to talk to you, actually."

"About what?" Vinnie's smile faded. He hated bad news and he could read it in the faces of these girls.

"You don't suppose we could talk," suggested the redhead, glancing round at Throttle, Modo and Charley. "Alone?"

"I'm sure anything you have to say to Vinnie, you can say to us too," said Throttle.

"Yeah,"said Charley defiantly.

"It's alright, fellas. I'll be right back." Vinnie stepped off his bike and started to follow the girls out of earshot. Throttle, Modo, and Charley watched them curiously while they talked.

"I wonder what they're talking about?" Charley asked, trying to sound like she didn't care.

"I don't know…" said Throttle.

"You think we can trust these girls?" said Modo.

"Not sure. But Vinnie seems to know them. Guess we'll just have to wait and see." As Throttle, Modo, and Charley watched, Vinnie's helmet fell from his hand and the conversation started to look interesting - Vinnie was obviously agitated. Whatever the three female biker mice had told him, it was obviously not good news. After a moment, he composed himself before returning to his bros and Charley. They instantly noticed a pale, emotional look on the white mouse's face.

"Vinnie! What's wrong?" asked Charley concerned.

"I, uh, I have to go…" said Vinnie flatly.

"Go? Go where?" said Modo.

"To Titan…"

"Why? What on Mars is there on Titan that has anything to do with you?" Throttle asked suspiciously.

Vinnie turned a despairing face to Throttle. "…A sick friend."


	2. When First We met!

**Chapter 2: When First We met!**

Now that the three female mice have been formerly introduced, Throttle, Modo, and Charley are more at ease with their presents. The white mouse with long blond hair in a pink jacket introduces herself as Janice. The shorthaired brunette in a blue jacket is Mandy, and the redhead wearing a green jacket is Kerry. Janice announced that she would take Vinnie back to Titan, while Mandy and Kerry will stay behind. They have offered to help Throttle and Modo battle any Limburger problems until Vinnie's return.

Throttle and Modo watches as Vinnie rides off with Janice before showing the girls around the garage. Charley, however, still stares down the road with a distant look on her face. She never seen Vincent so upset over anything. He appeared to be practically in tears as he tried to explain to them that he had to go visit a sick friend.

Mandy stops following the others and looks over her shoulder to see Charley still standing in the same spot. She ponders for a moment then comes to a conclusion on what could be on this human's mind.

With a smirk on her face she walks casually up to Charley. "Yet another victim of the grace and charm of the Great Vincent Van Wham." Mandy joked.

Charley broke out of her trance and glared at the female white mouse. "What would you know?" She snapped.

"A lot, actually." Mandy replied. "You'd be surprised how easily some girls fall in love with a charmer like Vince."

"Let me guess, you were one of them?" Charley smirked sarcastically.

"Eh, you could say that in a way, sure." The white female mouse honestly admitted. "Hard to believe, though, that Vincent once was a shy mouse that barely spoke to anyone."

"I don't believe you." Charley huffed.

"Oh, it's true. If it weren't for Julie, Vinnie just still might be a shy mouse that wouldn't talk much." Mandy said with a sadder tone to her voice.

Charley turned once again to face Mandy. It finally occurred to her that this 'Julie' is a very important person from Vinnie's past.

"I take it that Julie is the sick friend Vinnie is going to see?" She asked.

"Yeah." Mandy answered solemnly. "Come, Kerry and I'll get you up to date with the story of Vinnie and Julie."

Mandy escorted Charley back into the garage so they could all sit down and talk about what is going on.

-------------------------

A FEW MINUTES LATER… 

Vinnie and Janice arrive at the cloaked ship. Janice brings up the remote control and aims it to where the ship should re-appear. With a click of a button the cloaking device is turned off, and the ship comes into view. Without a moment to waist, the two bikers aboard the ship.

Janice takes her place at the controls, while Vinnie sits quietly in the seat next to hers. She glances over to her friend in concern. Janice can relate with how he is feeling. How she wishes she could say something that will help the situation, but there isn't a good way to say you're sorry about your friend's health conditions. With a sigh of regret, Janice engages the engines, and with the help of the controls, lifts the ship off the ground before blasting it to outer space.

Usually Vinnie would talk and joke about anything, but this time is different. His thoughts are on one person, his friend. Not only that, but his best friend from the other side of Mars. The moon, Titan, is a place where he once lived when he was younger. He faced off into the distance as he remembered his first arrival to his new home with his mother many years ago.

------------------------

**17 YEARS AGO, ON TITAN!**

Another immigration starship takes port at the loading bay on Titan. Many white mice begin to exit the ship with bags and suitcases. A young mouse walks off the ship with her child holding her hand. She pauses to bend down so she is eye to eye with her son.

"Here we are, Vinnie. This is Titan." She says to the little boy.

"Why did we have to come here?" He begins to whine.

"You know why. I already explained it. There isn't enough work or space for proper homes to live in that are decent enough for the white mice community. Not only that, but there are too many desert gangs running free and terrorizing our old village. That is why most of the white mice are moving to this moon." The mother explains.

"Now perk up. This is a whole new adventure for us, and I'm not about to miss it." She purrs while standing up. She turns and smiles at some of the handsome male mice unloading part of the cargo. Vinnie's mother blows them a kiss and takes her son's hand again before walking off.

Vincent rolls his eyes over his mother's actions and lets out a little groan as the head off to grab their luggage.

-------------------------

A WEEK LATER! 

Vinnie quietly sits as he watches a group of kids playing on motor-less bicycles in a dug out pit. He sighs as he wonders if any of them would be his friend. Unfortunately, Vinnie is far too shy. He is afraid that they might reject him.

"Whatcha sitting around for?" Came a young voice sneaking up behind him.

Vinnie let out a yelp as he nearly jumped out of his skin. He turned to see the owner of the young voice. That is when he sees a young female mouse with curly white hair. She is about the same age as he.

"I asked you a question. Are you stupid or something?" She bellowed down at him.

"Ah…" Vinnie was unsure of what to say to this girl. In his mind, she seemed a little to intimidating for him.

"That's what I thought." She stood crossing her arms and rolling her eyes skyward.

"Look, lets try this again. My name is J-u-l-i-e." The young girl said in a mockingly tone. "What's your n-a-m-e?"

"Um, Vincent." He managed to squeak out.

"Well, how come you won't play with us? Do you think you're too good for us?" She asks.

"I, um…" Vincent just didn't know what to say at all. There are just too many questions, and all he can think is why she would be talking to him in the first place.

"Oh, never mind. Come on." Julie grabs Vinnie's hand and starts dragging him down to the pit.

Meanwhile, Vinnie's mother grins as her plan worked. Finally her son is joining the other children as they play.

"That was very cleaver getting my little girl to talk to your son." A male mouse leans over to her.

"Why thank you. A Van Wham doesn't get by in life with just looks alone." She replies.

"Oh? Is there a 'Mr.' Van Wham, by any chance?" He asks in a flirting way.

"He's, uh… On vacation." She answers calmly, and yet a hint of regret in her tone. Her eyes glared for a moment as she thought back to the father of her child. Quickly she shook her mind of that negative time in her life, and brought her attention back to the male mouse beside her.

"How about you? Is there a 'Mrs.' in your life?" Valerie says in a soothing and flirting way.

"Actually, she passed away about six months ago." He responded with a sad look.

"Oh… Oh, I'm so sorry." Mrs. Van Wham said with sympathy.

"It's alright, she was very sick for quite some time. I'm more concerned with my daughter. She is simply too young to understand with what had happed to her mom, and why she had passed away."

"Yes, it is very difficult for a young mouse to understand the concept of life and death." She said in an understanding way.

"Would you, by chance, want to join me for dinner one night?" He suddenly blurts out.

Mrs. Van Wham gives him a startled look for a brief moment before she relaxes and gives him a smile. "Why sure, that would be wonderful."

After exchanging a warm smile, the two of them turn their attention back to their children and watched them as they played recklessly in the pit.


	3. Origin of the Bikes!

**Chapter 3: Origin of the Bikes! **

Janice and Vincent arrive at the loading bay on Titian in record time. Vincent's mother, Valerie Van Wham, stands waiting as her son returns home. She cannot believe it has been six years since he left to join the war against the invading Plutarkians on Mars. Her face showed many mixed emotions. Glad, because she was going to see her son again. Sad, because his best friend is terribly ill, and nervous with wonder how Vincent might handle the outcome of Julie's fate.

As soon as Vincent started coming off the ship, Valerie begins running up to him with open arms. Vincent saw his mom, so he too opened his arms out to welcome her hug. Instead of wrapping her arms around Vincent's body, she clasped her hands on his cheeks. She turned his head slightly to have a better look at the metal mask on his face.

"What happened to your beautiful face?" She screeched with anger and concern.

All the time he had spent fighting Limburger and his henchmen on planet Earth, Vincent forgotten how his mom might react to the mask on his face. He knew someday that he'd eventually have to explain to his mom about the mice's encounter with Carbuncle, Limburger's mad scientist.

"Ah, Ma. It's just an old scar I got from the war." He responded quickly.

"Is a scar so bad that you need to hide your face behind a metal mask?" Valerie inquired questionably.

Vincent sighed knowing that it is very difficult to hide anything from his mom. "Alright, there's this mad scientist named Carbuncle. He tried to turn me, and some of my friends into cyborg minions. But we managed to escape before any more damage was done. And besides, the look isn't that bad." He finished with a smirk.

Valerie raised an eye ridge in wonder. She then decided to shrug it off. There are more important matters to deal with right now.

"Well, as long as you are still safe." She sighed. "Come, Julie has been asking for you."

Vinnie and Janice start following Mrs. Van Wham to her plum color bike. At the same time Vinnie and Janice whistled for their bikes to come off the ship. A cherry red bike, and a white and teal bike came roaring out of the cargo bay of the ship and skidded to a stop in front of its owners. After Vinnie and Janice got onto their bikes, they followed Valerie to a familiar old neighborhood.

---------------------------

**BACK ON EARTH**

"I didn't realize that most of the white mice migrated to Titan." Charley said in a shocking tone. She continues to prepare lunch for the mice.

"Well, it did happen a long time ago." Throttle explains. "We were all just young children at the time."

"I remembered my grayed-furred mamma trying to explain the problems with some of the clans were having with jobs, housing, and desert gangs." Modo says. "Personally, I never really understood at all why you had to leave your home world to live on another planet, or moon in this case." He adds looking at Mandy and Kerry.

"Well, I'll be the first to admit that we white mice can be quite arrogant, not to mention hot headed at times." Mandy shocks everyone by saying.

Charley stands frozen with a plate of hot dogs, "Gee, I never noticed." She muttered behind a chuckle.

"What Mandy is trying to say is that many of the adults of our clans didn't want to feel dependent on every other mouse clan on Mars. They found Titan to have much of the resources that Mars has." The redheaded mouse explains.

"Besides," she continues with a confident smirk. "I believe it was a year later when some of the minors on Titan discovered a rare metal and had built these bikes from it." Kerry jerks her thumb towards their bikes that are sitting quietly by the garage door.

"Oh yeah, I remember that…" Throttle thinks back.

Charley puts down the plate of hot dogs and Throttle and Modo practically dives right in, each grabbing their share.

"What's this?" Kerry asks suspiciously, pointing at the plate of hot dogs.

"They are called hot dogs." Charley explains as she too grabs one from the plate.

"The best delicacy on this side of Mars." Throttle says before taking a huge bit from his hot dog.

"Really?" Mandy raised an eye ridge, unsure to trust his judgment on fine food cuisine.

"Sure, Vinnie goes crazy for this stuff." Modo adds with his mouth full.

"Well. In that case," Mandy reaches to grab a hot dog for herself. Kerry also takes one as well.

"If Vincent likes them then they can't be too bad." Kerry says. Both girls bite down on their hot dogs and began chewing. After allowing their taste buds to sample the flavor the two of them swallow with an approving smile.

"Mmm, delicious." Mandy cheers.

"Told ya." Modo says with a smirk.

Before any of them could take another bite a huge explosion erupted a few blocks down the road.

"What's that?" Mandy and Kerry cry out.

"Limburger," Modo and Throttle smirked.

-----------------------------

-Flashback-

**A YEAR LATER, ON TITAN!**

Both Vinnie and his mom have moved in with Julie and her dad. Life starts to improve for the white mice on Titan. A whole civilization has grown and profits begin to soar in the mining industry. Apparently many caves on Titan are filled with a rare element that many big corporations around the galaxy are looking for. The metal is called Ruthenium. Ruthenium is a hard, white metal and has four crystal modifications. It does not tarnish, its highly heat resistant, and is the most effective hardener for platinum and palladium. It is alloyed with these metals to make electrical contacts for severe wear resistance. The white mice wasted no time in sharing this metal with the rest of the mice on Mars. Both planets are now in the trading business with each other.. 

Thanks to some new technology from Mars, new computerized bikes are made with this metal. These new bikes are voice activated, and will recognize their owner's whistle as a homing beacon. The mice from both planets find this to be great since they are all love to ride.

Julie's father is one of the head managers of the mining company. As a hobby he also designs bikes. He has been working long hours and is fortunate to have Valerie and Vinnie around to help look after his daughter. As he sat in his office den, he looks out his window to see the beautiful planet, Saturn, in Titan's sky. The sound of his daughter and Vinnie laughing in the yard brought his attention down to them. He smiled proudly at them as they played.

The scene of the children playing had him so focused that he didn't notice a figure approaching from behind him. Two feminine arms suddenly rapped around him in a warm snuggle.

"Hi Valerie." He coos.

"Whatcha doin', Russell?" Mrs. Van Wham's soft voice sang sweetly in his ear.

"I'm designing a new bike." He responded to her.

Vinnie's mom looked down on the design on the paper and smiled. "It looks nice. Much different from the other designs."

"I'm thinking of painting it cherry red."

"Red is one of my favourite colors." She purrs.

"When this bike is finished it will be slightly faster then any other bike." Russell announces in a proud tone.

Valerie moves around and sits on Russell's lap. "You are so creative." She smiles seductively.

"Well, this is just a hobby. The real scientists are the ones that make the big bucks selling these machines." He admits.

"I'm sure this design will blow them all away." Valerie again purred as she inched her face closer to his.

"You are one major distraction, you know that?" Russell said as he slowly moves his face up to hers.

"Hem, what can I say… I'm a Van Wham."

Both Russell and Valerie touched lips. They rapped their arms around each other in a tight embrace. Without knowing, two pairs of eyes are watching them from outside of the window.

"Eeew, they're smoochin' again." Vinnie cringed.

"I wonder why the grown-ups like doing that?" Julie asked with interest.

"Who knows?" Vinny rolls his eyes skyward. "It's gross if you ask me."

"Come on… Don't you want to try it sometime?" Julie teased.

"I don't know I'm just a kid." He shrugged.

"Why don't we do an experiment?" She then chimed.

"What kind of an experiment?" Vinnie innocently asked.

Julie chucked before answering, "Hello, kissing…"

"Eeew," Vinny again cringed.

"Come on, you…" Julie says as she grabs Vinnie's hand and leads him to a nearby bush.

Once they are out of view, both Vinnie and Julie sit and stare blankly at each other.

"So, what do we do now?" Vinnie asked timidly.

"I'm not sure." Julie answered honestly. "Maybe we should sit closer?"

"Er, ok."

As they moved closer to each other their little hearts began to beat faster.

Vinnie swallowed a lump down his throat. "Ok, what's next?"

"I think we bring our faces in closer."

"S-s-sure."

Whether it was nervousness or the fact that they both just wanted this experiment to end quickly, they rushed their faces into each other a bit too fast.

"Ow!" Julie and Vinnie shouted while rubbing their throbbing foreheads.

"M-maybe we shouldn't move in so fast." Julie suggested.

"Yeah."

This time they both slowly move in closer to each other until their lips touched. For a brief moment neither of them moved. The moment felt as if time took a stand still. It wasn't till they realized they were still kissing, Vinnie and Julie pulled back with shocked looks on their faces.

"Wow." Vinnie gasped.

"That felt better then when we butted heads." Julie commented.

"Actually, I thought the butting heads part was rather fun." Vinnie giggled.

"You're weird." Julie says as she punches him in the arm.

"Hey, I'm a boy… what do you expect." Laughed Vinnie. He starts to reach for her and tries to wrestle her to the ground.

The two of them reverted back to goofing around as kids would. The kiss has been forgotten.


	4. Friends in the Winning circle!

**Chapter 4: Friends in the Winning circle!**

**ON EARTH!**

Throttle and Modo ride side by side with Mandy and Kerry as they head in the direction of the explosion.

"So lets get this straight, Limburger is a Plutarkian stink fish, right?" Kerry asks.

"That's right." Throttle nods.

"And it was mainly him and a weasely looking scientist named Carbuncle that had captured you and had done experiments on you?" Mandy asks next.

"Yup." Modo responds simply.

"Now Limburger is here, on Earth to try and do what he did on Mars?" Kerry asks again.

"You got it." Throttle answers again.

"Good. Then this adventure should be a snap." Mandy stated, snapping her fingers.

"How so?" Modo takes a turn to ask a question.

"Well, according to some letters we received from Vinnie that winning the Motorcross race on Saturn was more difficult then going up against Limburger and his henchmen." Kerry chuckled.

"Yeah, we should know. We were there when he crossed the finishing line." Mandy adds.

"I wouldn't count all your chickens before they hatch, just yet." Throttle warns, "We've made the mistake of underestimating Limburger before. Nearly got us killed a few times."

"Well, you don't need to worry about us, Throttle dear. Mandy and I are very resourceful." Kerry coos.

----------------------

- Flashback -

**EIGHT YEARS LATER!**

A grand event, the Motorcross race of the Galaxy, has decided to happen on Titan this year. The past eight years, Vinnie discovered his talent for racing. He has entered many races each year. All but one he came in first place. His first race he came in second. Being that he was only seven at the time it was quite an achievement for him and his family. This is, however, his first big race. And as usual he ended up being the youngest participant that entered.

Vinnie doesn't really want admit he is nervous. This isn't only the biggest race in the Galaxy, but its also the most dangerous. He hasn't ever done something so reckless and dangerous before. He looks down at his old black bike and pondered if it might make it through the entire race. Lately his bike has been acting up, especially when he went to grab a snack and came back to see a few of the parts missing.

Suddenly a hand touches his shoulder. Vinnie turns around to see Russell standing beside him with a proud look on his face.

"You know it is every mouse's dream to participate in a race like this." Russell begins to say.

"Thank you, sir." Vinnie smiles.

Russell pauses to look down on Vinnie's old bike. Indeed it has served him well over the past eight years, but he knows that it isn't suited for a race like this one. Just by looking at it, Russell can tell that someone had tampered with it as well. Russell turns to Vincent with a smirk.

"This bike has really done well over the years for you, hasn't it?"

"It has," Vincent smiled, but then frowned. "But I think something is wrong with it. It won't run as smoothly."

Russell bent down to get a better look at it. As suspected, he noticed that someone has tampered with Vinnie's bike. He somehow knew this would happen. Each year there is at least one cheater in this race.

He looks over to Vinnie with concern. "I don't think this bike will be able to race, my boy."

"Awe," Vinnie whined. Frustrated, he throws down his wrench down on the hard ground and crossed his arms. He really wanted to participate in the race.

Russell places a reassuring hand on Vinnie's shoulder. Vinnie slowly looks up at him with questioning eyes.

"Perk up, Vinnie. I have a surprise for you. I was going to wait for your birthday for this, but this is a good time to give you your gift." He tells him.

"What is it?" Vinnie asked with a little bit of interest. He still is upset that he won't be racing.

Russell guided Vincent to turn around. Sitting between his mom, and Julie sat a beautiful cherry red bike. Vincent stood speechless.

"Is that really for me?" Vinnie said finally finding his voice.

"Yup. I just finished it last week." Russell proudly says. "Vinnie, you've always been like a son to me. I would be honored if you would ride this bike in the race."

"I-I don't know what to say..." Vinnie stuttered.

"How about saying 'thank you' Vinnie sweetie." Valerie tells her son.

Vinnie turns to Russell with a wide grin on his face. "Thank you."

"Say Vincent, there is still an hour before the race will start. Why don't I show you how to run this bike, so you can take it for a test ride?" Russell suggested.

"Ok." Vinnie agreed.

As Russell starts showing Vinnie the controls on his new bike a tall figure walks up behind them.

"Ahh-choo!" Sneezed Vincent.

"What's wrong?" Russell asked in concern.

"I don't know. I, ah, ah, ahh-choo!" Vinnie sneezed again.

"Looks like your boy here has gotten himself a cold. Awe, that means he won't be able to race today…too bad." Mocked the stranger.

Vinnie and Russell turn around to see a tall male humanoid cat with black fur.

"I assure you that my boy is not sick." Valerie stated as she walks up past the cat and towards her son. She does a quick examination to his face before looking back at the black feline. "Just as I thought. He doesn't have a cold, just allergic reaction… to you." She accuses.

"Well, this will certainly be an interesting race then," the cat chuckled. "Oh, by the way, nice new bike you got there."

"I don't' trust him, dad?" Julie whispers harshly to her father.

"Neither do I sweet-pea. You can never really trust a cat, that is for sure." Russell told her.

--------------------

**FIFTY-FIVE MINUTES LATER!**

Vinnie just makes it back from his test run on his new bike. The race is just five minutes from starting. Julie runs up to Vinnie and hands him a pink cloth.

"Hey Vinnie, I almost forgot to give you this. I made this for you." She cheers.

"Awe, sweetheart, a pink bandana. How very feminine of you." Vinnie joked.

"Very funny. It's for luck." Julie chimed.

"Thanks sweetheart." Vinnie smiles as he allows Julie to tie the bandana around his neck.

"I know you will win, Vinnie. I had a dream about it." Julie admits.

For extra reassurance, Julie reaches up and gives Vinnie a friendly kiss on the cheek. The both of them look into each other's eyes for a brief moment before Vinnie finally puts on his new helmet that matched his new bike. He pressed the side of the helmet, which activated a blue force field that would protect his face from flying debris.

"RACERS TAKE YOUR POSITIONS!" The over-head announcer cried out.

"Well, this is it." Vinnie stated with a slightly nervous tone.

"You will be awesome." Julie coos convincingly.

Vinnie smiles warmly at her.

"Vinnie, you be careful out there." Valerie warns. "And if possible, stay away from that cat."

"Don't worry, mom, I'll make him eat my space dust." Vinnie winks.

Before Vinnie goes to sit on his bike, he again looks up at Russell. They both glance into each other's eyes knowingly. Russell gives Vinnie a 'good luck' nod without needing to say a word. Vinnie returns the gesture with another nod. He then straddles on the bike and starts her up.

The flag goes down indicating the race is now beginning. Many contenders are determined to win this race no matter what the cost. A few racers were left at the starting line with troubled engines. Some riders had actually been run right off the tracks and were disqualified. More racers took a bad turn and collided with each other. Vinnie himself almost ended up in the middle of another collision, but he escaped by swerving to ride up a rock that is shaped like a ramp. He leapt off of it, and landed right in front of another rider, which brought him in at fourth place.

Valerie watched in great horror as her son is now racing in the big leagues. She saw already three separate accidents involving a total of twelve racers. It impressed her that Vinnie had evaded a collision and brought himself closer to the lead, but naturally like all mothers, she still worried. Russell wrapped his arm around her and held her close to him. His smile helped calm her down enough to enjoy the rest of the race.

Julie sat quietly and admired how well Vinnie is racing. She looked over and saw some of their classmates cheering in the stands. One of the girls in particular seemed most interested in what is happening in the race. Somehow, Julie knew that everything was going to be ok.

As Vinnie and the three other racers turned the corner, he comes up to a familiar competitor. The black cat turned to spot the young mouse coming up fast along his left side. An evil grin creeps up on the black cat's face.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the li'l white mousy. You should actually be home with your mommy. This race is far too big for you to handle." The black cat sneered.

Vinnie fought the need to sneeze, but failed. "Ah, ah, ahh-choo!"

"Time to put you out of this race, li'l mousy." The cat pushed a few buttons on the crankcase on his bike. In result, spikes appeared out from the side of both of his wheels.

Vinnie gasps when he spots the spikes. He performs every trick he can think of to avoid the spikes. Suddenly he gets an idea. As the cat zigs one last time to hit Vinnie's front tire, Vinnie brakes quickly then swerves up along side the cliff. Vinnie looks over to the cat as he passes, and gives him a mischievous grin.

"Asta-la-bye bye, kitty." Vinnie growls.

Vinnie then comes down right in front of the cat, clipping his front tire. The cat looses control and goes tumbling down the cliff on the right side of the road.

"MMMEEOOWE!" The cat cries out as he rolls down the hill.

"Man, I'm good." Vinnie chuckles to himself.

The race is now coming near to the end. Vinnie starts up the after burners to catch up to the last two racers. He manages to pass them a few seconds before crossing the finishing line. The crowed goes wild as the cheered for the winner.

"YEEAAAAHHHOOOOO!" Vinnie yells, leaping off his bike with his arms thrown high above his head. He throws off his helmet and places it on his new bike. "Who's the baddest mamajammer in this whole universe?" He crows.

Before he could greet his family that are running up to him in the winning circle, a female white-furred mouse with brunette hair rushes up to him and gives him a passionate kiss on the lips. After a moment, the girl pulls away. She stares dreamingly into Vinnie's eyes.

"Hi, I'm Mandy." She purrs seductively. "And I think you are sexy."

"Well, hello Mandy. I'm Vinnie." He responded with a pleasantly surprised expression.

"Meet some of my friends." Mandy says as she addresses two other female mice behind her. "This is Kerry and Janice."

"Nice to meet you. Let me introduce you to my family. This is my mom, my best friend Julie, and her father, Russell." Vinnie proudly states.

"Cool. Would you all like to join us at the Victory Party tonight?" Mandy asks.

"Heh, is a motorcycle a mouse's best friend?" Julie chimes.

The photographer has Vinnie standing in the middle with Julie, Valerie, and Russell posing on the right of him. Mandy, Kerry, and Janice pose on the left side. The picture is taken and they all head off to the party. It is certainly a proud moment for all of them.


	5. A True Friend!

**Chapter 5: A True Friend!**

It was as Throttle and Modo suspected. Greasepit, Carbuncle, and a couple of Limburger's goons are setting explosives in the nearby park. After a few bombs are set, Carbuncle pushes a button to set them off. When the flying debris clears, the goons start hulling up the soil and placing them in the alien looking dump trucks. It clearly shows that Limburger ordered them to continue on the same job that the Mice have chased them away from this morning, but why? Throttle pondered on that thought. Why, indeed, would they go back to a job knowing that the Mice would easily chase them away again? The whole thing smelled like a trap.

"So what are we waiting for?" Kerry asks impatiently.

"A plan." Throttle plainly stated.

"Can this plan come a little quicker? I'm getting bored here." Mandy complains.

"Easy there li'l lady. Throttle knows what he's doing." Modo says standing up for his friend.

Both girls let a frustrated sigh. Throttle and Modo couldn't but to smirk on how these girls remind them a little of Vinnie.

"Ok, here's the plan." Throttle speaks up. "Now keep in mind that this could be a trap, so you two go around and come up behind for a sneak attack." He says to the girls.

"What are you two going to do?" Kerry inquired.

"We will keep these goons distracted while you two come around the back." Throttle speaks clearly.

"Cool plan. I like it." Mandy cheers.

"Do you lovely ladies have weapons on your rides?" Modo asked out of concern.

Mandy and Kerry looked at each other and smirked. With a few pushes of the buttons on their crankcases lasers weapons and blaster guns appear around the front end of their bikes.

"Does this answer your question Modo, dear?" The redhead asks, cocking her head and raising an eye ridge.

"Alright then." Throttle grins. "Lets Rock…"

"…And Ride!" Both boys cry out.

The girls look at each and smile once more.

"No wonder Vinnie enjoys hanging with these two." Kerry says.

"And you were worried in coming here." Mandy chuckles.

"Well let's show these boys what we ladies from Titan can do." Kerry starts to rev up her engine and heads off in one direction.

Mandy also revs up and heads in the opposite direction.

Throttle and Modo come barreling down the hill with their guns shooting at the bad guys. Many of the henchmen scattered to avoid the Mice's blasts.

"Carbuncle," Came Limburger's voice through the walkie-talkie.

"Yes, your cream cheesiness?" Carbuncle replies into the walkie-talkie with a nervous tone.

"I hear gun fire. I take it the Biker Mice have taken the bate." Limburger ponders.

"Yes, boss."

"Good then start with plan 'caging the rodents'." Limburger orders.

Carbuncle quickly pushes a big red button on the computer table he had set up earlier. Before the Mice could react a cage appears from the ground underneath them. The walls of the cage fold up from all for directions. Throttle and Modo crash into the first wall and they find themselves lying on the floor of the cage. The Mice start to get up to try and stop the roof of the cage from dropping, but it was too late. They now have to admit that they are trapped.

"A cage…" Throttle addressed the obvious.

"How original." Modo finishes in a joking manner.

"Shell we bla… Arrg!" Throttle didn't get to finish his sentence. An electoral charge hits both boys, knocking them out cold.

The girls come up from behind Limburger's goons and fire their weapons. Greasepit fires a bazooka at them. The blast from the missile causes Mandy and Kerry to swerve temporal out of control. When the smoke clears the girls can see the bad guys driving off. They become very concern as the see the boys being dragged unconscious in the cage.

"What do we do now?" Mandy asks sounding a bit frustrated.

"We rescue them." Kerry responds with a smirk.

-----------------------------------

**MEANWHILE, ON TITAN**

Vinnie, Valerie, and Janice stop in front of a large beautiful house. In fact most of the houses in the block were large. The neighborhood is certainly the wealthy part of Titan. Vinnie gets off his bike and takes off his helmet. With a deep breath, he takes in the scenery before him. He looks up at the house and gives a faint smile.

"Home sweet home." He murmurs softly.

Valerie and Janice dismount off their bikes and start walking up to the door. Vinnie follows them. As they walk in through the front door a familiar figure sits in the living room, waiting. Janice looks over to notices the figure first.

"Hi Julie. How are you feeling?" She croons.

"Tired, but fine." Julie responds softly. Her face appeared slightly sunken in. The once long wavy white hair now seems to droop along side her face.

"I brought something for you." Janice smiles.

"Oh?" Julie pretends that she hasn't a clue what this 'something' is.

Janice makes a gesture at the door to guide Vinnie forward. Julie smiles as she sees a familiar figure. However, a shadow is covering the right side of Vinnie's face. Slowly he walks up to her, into the light. As soon as Julie can see his whole face she frowns in shock. She holds up her left hand in the air. From her point of view she is covering the right side of his face.

"Just like in my dream." She whispers.

"Heh, well at least the rest of me is still intact." Vinnie chuckles.

Julie bravely grins back at him and lowers her hand back down to her lap.

"Mommy?" A small voice called out.

Vinnie and Julie look over to see a small seven-year-old female mouse. Her fur and hair is pure white. And her eyes glisten of innocents with a hint of 'knowing'. Just like her mother once appeared when she was a child.

"Hey baby-doll, your home early." Julie croons weakly. "How was school?"

"It was fine." The little girl replies.

"Is that little Marina?" Vinnie asks in a surprised tone.

The little girl looks suspiciously at the tall male mouse.

"Well, she was only a baby when you last saw her…" Julie smirked.

"Hey sweetheart, you remember me don't you?" Vinnie asked little Marina hopefully.

"You look different," Marina finally speaks. "Not like the pictures."

Vinnie finds himself touching the metal mask on his face. He briefly frowns, but then smiles warmly at the young child. "Sometimes things like this happen when you are in a war, sweetheart."

Valerie and Janice looked at each other and smiled. They both felt that Julie and Vinnie could use some time alone.

"Come sweetie, why don't we let Vinnie and mommy have some space so they can catch up." Valerie chimed sweetly, taking the child's hand.

"Yes, lets go start making a special dinner for them. Doesn't that sound like fun?" Janice sang softly.

"Ok," Marina turns to her mom. "You get better now, ok mommy. Vinnie is here."

"I'll try sweet-pea, thank you."

"I can't believe how much she has grown." Vinnie says as he still marveled how Marina looked now. "She is looking so much like you."

"She does have her father's nose though." Julie stated with a frown.

"You mean the _rat_?" Vinnie growled.

"He's a mouse, Vinnie, just like you are." Julie sighed.

"Any mouse who treated you they way he did, isn't a mouse at all in my books." He said in an angry tone.

"Hey, I was young, foolish, and in love. He was a hunk of a mouse… How could've I not fallen in love with him?" Julie looks up at her best friend to see a sad serious look on his face. Her eyes fell down to the ground. "I should have listened to you in the first place. Maybe then he wouldn't have hurt me the way he did?"

"That was in the past, and I took care of him, remember? He won't trouble you anymore. I made him promise that. And if he ever forgets, all he has to do is look in the mirror and remember that the great Vincent taught him a valuable lesson." Vinnie assured her.

Julie took his hand and placed it gently on her cheek. She looked up into his eyes again. With another faint smile she says, "What would I do without you as my friend, Vinnie?"

Vinnie gave a cocky smile and responded, "Like most people that don't have the V-man in their lives… you'd be totally bored."


	6. Holding Out for a Hero – Part 1

**I have borrowed the song "Holding Out for a Hero" by Bonnie Tyler for this chapter.**

**Chapter 6: Holding Out for a Hero – Part 1**

- flashback –

**ONE YEAR LATER!**

Ever since the big Motorcross Race, Vinnie has become more popular on the moon Titan. Every weekend, after school, Vinnie and his friends would hang out at the Youth Tavern located at the edge of town. There, Vinnie and Julie would take this opportunity to express their creative story telling on the Tavern's stage. Telling stories was something that Vinnie and Julie often did with each other as children. The stories would always involve them being heroes that would battle against evil forces on the attack. Sometimes Vinnie will get distracted and brag on how well he did at the Motorcross Race last. But then he would refocus his attention back to the story he and Julie are telling. After the story Janice, Mandy, and Kerry would hop on stage to start singing all types of music, but mostly rock to finish the act.

Julie, herself, found a boyfriend now. His name is Calvin. He is an older mouse at least in his mid 20's. For the past six months he has been very tight with Julie. Usually Vinnie gets along with everyone, but for some reason he just doesn't like Calvin. During the past three months he noticed some subtle changes in Julie's behaviour. Last week Vinnie went to touch her arm and she flinched. Never did Julie flinch when Vinnie touched her. This made him very suspicious with her relationship with Calvin. When Vinnie tried to address his concerns with the whole thing, she suddenly got defensive. If her and Vinnie weren't such close friends, she would have simply left him out of her life for good. She was in love, and that wasn't going to stop her from what she thought was happiness.

Vinnie and Mandy also have been close, although, Vinnie does have a tendency to flirt with the other ladies in the Tavern. This doesn't seem to bother Mandy too much, for she too does her own share of flirting. Neither of them seemed to take their relationship too seriously. Although, when the two of them are together their relationship does become rather passionate.

Tonight started out no different then any other night. Vinnie and Julie hopped on stage. They began telling the crowd a story about two 'well-known' heroes on another adventure.

"Greetings everyone, and welcome to another concluding episode of the two great heroes of the moon, Titan." Vinnie announced to the audience.

"These two heroes are, no doubt, an unbeatable team." Julie chimed in. "And their power could not be compared to anyone else's. Are you ready?" She says holding her Mick out to the audience.

The crowd lets out a loud, "Yeah!"

"Then lets begin the story. Staring me, 'Vincent, the Manly-Mouse'…" Vinnie says in a deep voice.

"And 'Julie, the Gorgeous Seductress'…" Julie curtsies.

The crowd cheers.

As Vinnie and Julie continue with their story, a white male mouse sits in the corner of the Tavern with a sulky look on his face. He glares up at the duo on stage. Anytime Vinnie touched Julie on the arm or the hand, he would clinch his teeth tightly with a snarl.

"And so, Titan is once again safe from the forces of evil, thanks to…" Julie coos as she and her partner brings the story to a close.

"Vincent…"

"…And Julie."

"Ride Free, Citizens!" They both crowed holding up peace signs with their fingers.

The audience cheered loudly as Vinnie and Julie got off the stage. The story paved the way for Janice, Mandy, and Kerry to jump on the stage. A music band that just happened to be sitting in the background on the stage start playing rock tone with a dancing beat to it. Mandy and Kerry start off the song.

Do, do, dooo

Do, do, dooo

Do, do, dooo

Haa, Haa

Janice steps up, being the lead singer and all, with a microphone in her hand. She lifts it up to her face and takes a deep breath.

Where have all the good men gone and where are all the gods?

Where's the great white Hercules to fight the rising odds?

Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed?

Late at night I toss and I turn and I dream of what I need

Janice, Mandy, and Kerry all together with graceful dance moves across the stage, step forward to sing the chorus. The crowd in the Tavern are on their feet dancing to the song in front of the stage.

I need a hero

I'm holding out for a hero till the end of the night

he's gotta be strong and he's gotta be fast

and gotta be fresh from the fight

I need a hero

I'm holding out for a hero till the morning light

He's gotta be sure and he's gotta be soon

And he's gotta be larger than life

Larger than life

This time Mandy steps up in centre stage, while the other two mice dance in the background. Mandy couldn't help but to flirt with Vincent as she sings. Vinnie, himself, found her performance very much arousing and responds by flirting back with her.

Somewhere after midnight

In my wildest fantasies

Somewhere just beyond my reach

There's someone reaching back for me

Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat

It's gonna take a Superman to sweep me off my feet

Janice, Mandy, and Kerry come back together to sing the chorus.

I need a hero

I'm holding out for a hero till the end of the night

he's gotta be strong and he's gotta be fast

and gotta be fresh from the fight

I need a hero

I'm holding out for a hero till the morning light

He's gotta be sure and he's gotta be soon

And he's gotta be larger than life

Larger than life

While Mandy and Janice dance, Kerry steps up to sing the next verse.

Up where the mountains meet the heavens above

Out where the lightning strikes the sea

I can swear that there's someone somewhere watching me

Through the wind and the chill and the rain

and the storm and the flood

I can feel his approach like a fire in my blood

One last time Janice, Mandy, and Kerry all take centre stage to sing chorus till the music fades.

I need a hero

I'm holding out for a hero till the end of the night

he's gotta be strong and he's gotta be fast

and gotta be fresh from the fight

I need a hero

I'm holding out for a hero till the morning light

He's gotta be sure and he's gotta be soon

And he's gotta be larger than life

Larger than life

"Now, I know you are singing about me." Vinnie pipes up.

"Why Vinnie? Are you looking for a hero?" Kerry Joked.

"Sweetheart, everyone here knows that _I'm_ the hero." Vinnie proudly states. "Weren't you paying attention to our story?"

The whole Tavern howled and cheered with Vincent's comment.

"Darlin' you can by my hero any day." Mandy purrs as she flops down off the stage and into his arms.

"You guys performed great." Julie said encouragingly when Vinnie and the girls reach their table.

"Hey, your story was awesome too, you know." Kerry says holding her glass to her.

"Yo, babe. It's time for us to go now." A deep voice bellows from behind them.

"Calvin. W-we just got here." Julie replies a bit timidly when she turns her head to see her boyfriend standing with a disappointed look on his face.

"I'm bored. Lets go." Calvin ordered.

Vinnie slammed down his drink on the table and glared at Calvin. "Look, kill-joy, we are having fun here, so why don't you…"

"Hey, runt! If I want your opinion I will ask for it." Calvin snapped back. He then tugs on Julie's arm. "We're out of here, babe."

"Runt? Why I outta…" Vinnie growls as he starts rolling up his sleeve.

"Vinnie, no! It'll be alright, I promise." Julie tries to council.

Before anyone could say anything else, Calvin forcefully tugs on Julie's arm right out of the Tavern.

"Man, I hate that guy." Vinnie again growls.

"I know what you mean, brrrr." Mandy shivers.

"I just hope that Julie has the sense to dump that loser." Janice thought out loud.

For the next little while the group at the table sat quietly and finished their drinks.

--------------------------------

**TWO HOURS LATER!**

Vinnie got worried about Julie, so he decided to come home from the Tavern early. He hopes that she would be home by now.

"Hey mom?" He calls out down the quiet hallway.

Valerie pokes her head out from the living room.

"Yes sweetie. What is it?"

"Is Julie home yet?" Vinnie asks her.

"Yes. She got home about fifteen minutes ago. I didn't get a chance to talk to her though. She just ran straight into her room."

"Thanks mom." He said, quickly heading down the hall.

"Vinnie?" Valerie called out. She waited for him to stop and turn to her before continuing. "Do you know what is wrong with her? Both Russell and I are very worried about her."

"I don't know yet mom. But I intend in finding out." Vinnie says before marching down the hallway to Julie's room. A knotted feeling clinched in the pit of his stomach just before knocking on Julie's bedroom door.

"Who is it?" Came a sad voice from behind the door.

"It's me, Vinnie. Is everything alright?"

There was a slight pause before Julie responded. "It's all good. Don't worry about me."

Vincent became suspicious with the way Julie sounded. He decided to investigate, so he opens the door and walks in. To his surprise Julie is lying in the dark, curled up in a ball on her bed.

"VINNIE!" Julie snapped up in shock. She started to clinch on what appeared to be her torn shirt above her left breast.

"What are you doing sitting in the dark?" Vinnie asked with great concern.

"I-I-I just felt like it, ok." Her voice quivered.

"Julie, something's wrong. I know it."

"No. Everything is fine…"

Not believing her, Vinnie reaches over to the lamp beside the bed and turns it on. The light floods the room, Julie immediately cowards from view by tuning her face away from Vinnie. Concerned now more then ever, Vinnie reaches to touch Julie on the shoulder. Julie quickly flinches away. She is also trying not to cry, but slowly failing. Whimpering sounds started coming from her mouth.

As Vinnie glanced at her, he could see dried blood stains on Julie's white furred arms and legs. Her shirt has been torn to the point that it is practically falling off. His blood began to boil with fury. How can anyone hurt a lady like this? Carefully, Vinnie reached down to place his hand under her chin. Slowly he guided her head around so he can inspect her face clearly. As predicted, Julie's lower lip is cut and bleeding. Her left cheek is swollen, and her right eye looks like it will soon receive black and blue rings around it.

"HE did this to you, did he?" Vinnie said forcefully.

"Vinnie, it's not what you think… It was an accident…" Julie squeaked. A few tears escaped from her eyes.

"AN ACCIDENT?" He shouted. "Julie, this is NO accident. He purposely beat you."

"No! It isn't like that. H-h-he just got a little upset, that's all." Julie began to cry.

"Sweetheart. Mice don't just beat their lady just because they are a 'little upset'. This is WRONG! I have a good mind to go up to him and do the same to him as he just did to you." Vinnie bellowed.

"Stop it! Why are you saying this? I thought you were my friend."

"I AM your friend." He corrected her. Vinnie walks back up to the door and pokes his head out into the hallway. "Mom! Russell! Get in here!"

"Vinnie. No! Please don't do this…" Julie pleaded through her tears.

"Where is he?" Vinnie demanded.

"No… Please…"

"Julie, someone needs to teach him a lesson. And that someone is going to be ME! Now where is he?" He clasped his hands firmly around her upper arms to hold her steadily so he can look her straight in the eyes.

Julie paused, not knowing what to say to him. She thought she loved Calvin, and yet, deep inside she knew that what he did to her was wrong. Her body ached as she sat quivering in fear. She looked up into Vinnie's eyes and knew that he has been the only male, besides her father, that she ever trusted.

"The Tavern…" She whispered to him.

"Vinnie, what's going on…? Oh my!" Valerie spoke when she finally came up to the bedroom door.

"Valerie?" Russell asked when he noticed Valerie's shocked expression. He then looked over to his daughter. "JULIE!"

Both Valerie and Russell run up to Julie with worry all over their faces.

"Daddy." Julie wailed as her father rapped his arms around her.

"We need to get her to the doctor, Russell." Valerie said. She turned to see Vincent heading out the door. "Vinnie, where are you going?" When he didn't respond to her, she began to panic. "VINCENT! Get back here!"

"No can do, mom. I gotta teach a rat a lesson." Vinnie said in an angry tone.

"Vincent! Don't you dare do anything crazy!" Valerie warned.

"Crazy is my middle name, mom, and you know it!" Vinnie admitted as he quickly turns to glance back at her. He then storms out through the front door.

Valerie starts running out after him, but saw that she is too late. He already hopped on his bike and is driving off into the night.

"Oh, god. Not again." She mutters.


	7. Holding Out for a Hero – Part 2

**Chapter 7: Holding Out for a Hero – Part 2**

- Flashback…(conclusion) -

**20 MINUTES LATER, AT THE YOUTH TAVERN!**

Vinnie pulls up in front of the Youth Tavern in a screeching halt. He straddles off his bike. He throws off his helmet and drops it absently on the ground. With a focused mind, Vinnie pushes the doors of the Tavern wide open. He scans the room with his eyes until he sees his target clearly. Vinnie clinched his teeth in anger. He coiled his hands up into a fist. Then he begins to march forcefully up to the table where Calvin sat quietly, listening to Janice, Kerry, and Mandy singing another song on stage. It is a mellower tune then the one they sang earlier.

Calvin received an unexpected shock when Vinnie slammed his hands down on his table. "Oh, it's you. What do you want, runt?" He calmly says before he takes another sip of his soda.

"Ok. Being that you were dating my best friend, I had let this 'runt' thing slide. But now, after what you just did to her, the gloves are off!" Vinnie spat shaking his index finger at him.

"Oh please. You couldn't fight your way out of a hand bag." Calvin joked.

The whole Tavern gasped when Vincent reached down to grab Calvin by his shirt and threw him up against the wall. Janice, Mandy, and Kerry stopped singing, they stood, shocked to see what is happening.

"Nobody beats up any of my friends, especially Julie, and gets away with it… You hear me, you 'rat'!" Vinnie angrily shouts loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Unhand my, _very_ expensive, shirt!" Calvin growled in a low tone.

"Awe, what's the matter? Afraid that I might splatter blood all over it?" Vinnie retorted just before punching Calvin as hard as he can on his nose.

"You're going to pay for that." Said Calvin as he got back up. He started rubbing a few droplets of blood from his nose.

"Bring it on…" Vinnie taunted.

Calvin rushes up showing his size, which is much taller then Vincent. He swings his fist around so fast that Vinnie didn't have time to block it. With a loud crash, Vincent landed hard on the table behind him, causing it to break along with a few glasses that sat there.

Once again everyone in the Tavern gasped. Janice, Kerry, and Mandy look at each other with worried expressions. Kerry reaches over to back stage and pulls out a gun from her jacket.

"Is that the best you got, runt? Come on GET UP! Show me what you can do." Calvin angrily bellows.

Vinnie staggers up from the broken debris. He mentally admits this is his first fistfight that he has ever been in. The image of Julie burned in his mind. That created such anger that boiled strongly in his veins. The adrenalin of this fight over powered the throbbing pain on his now bleeding lower lip and jaw. However, the moisture he now feels on his face brought his hand up to touch it. When he saw his own blood on his hand he began to show more fury towards Calvin.

In the corner of Vinnie's eye he notices a chair standing beside him. As Calvin started to charge him once more, Vinnie quickly picks the chair up with his tail. He drags it close enough for him to snatch it up with his hand. With one major swoop, Vincent swung the chair directly over Calvin's head.

While Calvin stammered in a dazed, confused state, Vincent attacks. He started punching the older mouse with all his strength. With a lift swing, and a right upper cut motion with his fists is enough to put damage to anyone's face, especially Calvin. Without warning, Calvin took an opportunity to punch Vinnie in the left ribcage. This move took Vinnie by surprise as he bent forward to gasp for breath.

"This is getting to be quite tiresome." Calvin says breathlessly as he readies himself for another attack.

Vinnie looks down to see a bottle that is still in one piece. Quickly he picks it up and smashes it on the table beside him. This now causes the bottle to have sharp-ridged ends. Without wasting a moment, Vincent swings the piece of glass upright. The jagged edge of the glass pierced through Calvin's left side on his face, just missing his eye by a half an inch.

In shock, Calvin brings his hand up to his face. He can feel the damage that the one little sharp glass created. When he pulls his hand down, he can see it covered in blood from the cut.

"That does it." He growled as he started reaching behind his back with his right hand. "No more playing games." Calvin pulls out a gun that he kept in a holster on his back and aimed it at Vinnie. "I'll kill you right now!"

Just then a sound of a gun going off was heard. Vinnie jumped slightly thinking he has already been hit, but noticed that the gun in Calvin's hand had just flew out of his grasp. Confused, Vinnie looks towards the stage where the sound actually came from. There standing strong is a female white mouse with long braided hair holding a gun high above her head. She lowers it, and aims it at Calvin. Mandy and Kerry stood firmly beside her. Vinnie smiled as he mentally thanked them for the assistance.

"I think it's time you leave, Calvin." Janice demands.

"And we don't mean just the Tavern either." Her redheaded friend add.

"We mean the entire moon of Titan." Mandy finished.

"You heard the ladies," Vinnie said sounding out of breath after the fight. "Get out of here. And if you ever come anywhere near Julie ever again…I'll kill you. That you can be certain of."

Calvin glared hard at Vinnie. He starts to pan the room to notice that everyone in the Tavern was surrounding him in an aggressive manner. This gave Calvin the impression that everyone here wanted him gone. Again he snarls at Vincent.

"This isn't over, runt. I will seek my vengeance. It will come when you least expect it. And I assure you I will not be so lenient towards you the next time." Calvin warns as he backs out of the Tavern.

Vincent, refusing to flinch, stands steadily in his spot showing Calvin that he is no coward. As soon as Calvin disappears through the doors, Vinnie again whips his mouth with the back of his hand. Some of the blood dried, but still the actual cut is still moist. Mandy walks up to him with a damp cloth in her hand.

"Here, let me get it." She says smoothly.

She guides him to sit down in a near by chair that still is standing from the fight. Vinnie winces when the damp cloth touches his wound, but he allows her to finish cleaning his face.

"Thanks." He whispers to her.

"Vinnie, how can you be so crazy?" Mandy asks him in a concerning way.

"He hurt Julie. I had to do something." Vinnie answers her with another wince of pain.

"She's lucky to have a friend like you, Vin." Janice says putting the gun back in her pocket. "But still, Calvin is known to be a killer. That's something we just found that out."

"Yes, but thanks to us, I don't think Calvin would dare show his face around here again." Kerry smirked.

------------------------------

TWO HOURS LATER 

Vinnie returns home, a little worse for wear, but that doesn't concern him. He walks in and is immediately greeted by his mom.

"Vinnie? Oh my god. Your face!" She screeched.

"Mom, don't worry. It's just a few scratches." He assured her. "Where's Julie? How is she?"

"She's in her room, resting." Valerie answered. "My concern is you right now… Vinnie, tell me, you didn't kill Calvin… did you?" She asked with worried eyes.

Vinnie froze for a moment. He seemed quit shocked with his mom's question. His intensions were not to kill anyone at all. "No mom. But I did beat him up pretty good." He chirped proudly.

Valerie placed her right hand on her chest and gave a sigh of relief. "Oh good." She muttered. Valerie then shook her head and realized what she was saying and how she must appear to Vinnie. "I-I mean, Vinnie, don't you dare do that again. You have a nasty temper sometimes, and I don't want you to get hurt…or worse. Hear me? Promise you won't do anything like this again."

"Ma, geez." Vinnie had to take a step back from his mom. Her actions seemed a little too creepy all of a sudden. "What's up with you?"

"Nothin'," Valerie said as she suddenly backed down. "You just have a tendency to act like your father sometimes, and I worry. That's all."

Vinnie slowly shook his head in discuss. 'How could she ever compare me to _him_?' He thought.

"I am NOTHING like my father." He growled through clinched teeth at her before walking away.

Valerie stands and just watches her son storm off down the hall. She feels guilty in thinking that she could have unintentionally opened an old wound with him. Then again, he did start up as soon as he saw that Julie had been beaten. This whole thing is really scaring her more then she could ever realize.

Shortly after, Vinnie arrives to Julie's bedroom door. He taps lightly on the wooden door, and waits to hear if someone would answer.

"Come in." A soft voice crooned from within the room.

Vinnie opens the door and walks in. Julie looks up to see her best friend walking up to her with a black eye and a cut lip on his face.

"Awe, Vinnie." She sighed as she turned away from him. The sight of him nearly brought her in tears again. 'He ran out and got himself hurt. It's all my fault.' She whined in her thoughts.

"Sweetheart. Don't fret over a few scratches and bruises. Besides, that _rat_ got the worse of it." Vinnie gave a positive grin. He proudly remembers the permanent scar Calvin will have. Especially, when that scratch he caused with the broken glass finally heals on his face.

Julie tries to smile back at him, but for some reason the thought of Calvin being hurt made her sad. She knows that he probably deserves to get all that he had received from Vinnie, and yet, part of her still loved him. Her mind also drifted on another problem that she had just found out just moments ago.

Vinnie sensed something distressing Julie; slowly he found his grin fading into a frown. "What's wrong? Look, if you are still mad at me for trying to do the right thing for you…"

"No. That isn't it Vinnie." Julie interrupted.

"Then what is it?" Whispered Vinnie. He never felt more worried and concerned for his friend before.

"I just found out that I'm three weeks pregnant." She announced with a quivering lip.

'That bastard.' Vinnie cursed in thought. He then realized that Calvin doesn't know, and most likely never will know, thanks to him and the rest of gang in the Tavern. Calvin has been chased off Titan, permanently. Vinnie sighed in relief knowing that Julie and her unborn child are going to be safe from that jerk. He looks up at Julie to see that she is still trembling in fear and uncertainty.

"Come here," Vinnie said sitting down beside her on the bed. He holds out his arms and offered his shoulder to lean on.

The second Julie placed her cheek on his masculine shoulder she started to weep. Vincent wrapped his arms firmly around her body. Slowly he subconsciously started to rock her gently. He hated to see any of his friends get hurt, especially Julie. This incident seemed to hurt him more then he would care to admit. Vinnie kept holding her, never wanting to let her go.

----------------------------------

- Present -

**ON EARTH,**

FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER 

Carbuncle, Greasepit, and the rest of Limburger's goons dragged the caged Mice into a warehouse on the docks. Kerry and Mandy stopped about a half a block away to view the surroundings. They look at each other with a smirk once they have an idea on how to save their new friends.

INSIDE THE WAREHOUSE… 

"It's about time you goons did something right for once." Limburger marveled as the Mice in the cage slowly started coming too.

"Er, boss, there is something you should know…" Greasepit began to trail off.

"Not now, dear boy. Lets have a look at our captured rodents."

"But your grilled-cheesiness…" Carbuncle stammered.

Limburger ignored Carbuncle's warning and headed straight for the cage. He noticed that the Mice are starting to stir. Each mouse groaned and rubbed their sore heads. Limburger started chuckling with pleasure as he enjoys seeing the Mice suffer in agony.

"Wakie-wakie, you postulating vermin." Limburger taunted.

Both Throttle and Modo shake their heads from the remaining cobwebs. Their attention draws towards the smell of rotting cheese.

"Limburger," Modo growls with his good eye glowing red.

"You think this cage will hold us for long, Stink-fish?" Throttle forcefully adds as he makes an angry fist.

"Oh, I don't plan on keeping you in there for long, for you see, I plan on killing you all right…" Limburger paused as he suddenly realized something. "Wait a minute? Where is the third mouse?"

"That's what we've been trying to tell you boss…" Greasepit starts to explain.

"He wasn't with them, instead there were two other Mice." Carbuncle finished off.

"More Mice? Where?" Limburger nervously asked looking around the warehouse.

"Right here!" Came a female voice from outside the door before it was blown up.

Two white mice on motorcycles come screeching inside and blasting their weapons on the bad guys. These two vicious females created such damage on Limburger's artillery that it caused the goons to flee, including Carbuncle and Greasepit.

"Get back here, and fight!" Limburger spat at his departing crew.

That's when Limburger realized that the two strange bikers were riding circles around him. "Oh my." He whispered. He cautiously tries to step away, but quickly stopped still in his tracks when a weapon fired close to his feet. Limburger looks up to see one of the female bikers stop.

Kerry says with her gun pointing at Limburger's head, "Not another step, Swiss-cheese."

"The name is Limburger, you indigent rodent." Limburger took offence.

The white-furred redhead slowly shakes her head from side to side, "not after when I'll be through with you, it won't be."

"I say you should blast him right now." Mandy piped up.

"Awe, you know how much I enjoy 'toying' with Plutarkians before blasting them into kingdom come." Kerry gloated.

"Before you do decide to blast me, could you answer me one question?" The captured Plutarkian calmly asks. "Where is that inferno tyrant that is usually with you vermin?" Limburger demanded.

"You mean, crazy Vin?" The white-furred brunette asked, cocking her head to one side.

"He's away on personal business, so we are here to temporarily take his place." Kerry explains.

"Guess you can say you got two for the price of one." Mandy snickered. "Mandy and Kerry, hero's for hire, if you will." She adds, pointing her index finger, in a gun-like fashion, at Limburger.

"Speaking of which," Kerry added. She pointed her gun at the top of the cage and fired it, loosing the hinges enough to set the boys free.

While the Mice were distracted, Limburger pulled out a little black remote control. He quickly pushes a button, which activated a trap door beneath him. The door opened big enough for his entire body to slip through.

"Nice shot." Throttle applauded as he hoped on his bike and rode it out of the cage.

"No sweat." Kerry said waving it off like it was really nothing. "Now for the stink-fish… What?" To her surprise, Limburger had vanished from the sites where she and Mandy had him cornered.

"Hey, where did he go?" Mandy cried out.

"I wouldn't worry too much…He does that quite a bit." Modo chimes.

"How irritating." Kerry grumbles as she puts her gun back into her holster that sat on her hip.

"Well, since it will be a while before the rancid cheese-butt will show his ugly mug, I say it's time for dinner." Throttle calmly states.

"Really? What are we having?" Kerry asks as she pats her now grumbling tummy.

"Nothing but the best, li'l Darlin'." Modo coos.

"Hot Dogs and Root Bear!" Both boys crow at once.

Kerry and Mandy look at each other with raised eyebrows. They decided to shrug and follow the boys back to the Last Chance Garage.


	8. White Mice Don't Cry!

**Chapter 8: White Mice Don't Cry!**

**ON EARTH…**

Limburger watches the Mice as the ride off from a nearby rooftop. His quick journey through the sewer, he manages to escape capture from the Mice. He snarls with clinched teeth as the now four Mice race away on their noisy bikes.

"How is it that these infectious, disease ridden, rodents can get the better of me EVERY time?" He spat heavily to himself.

"I'm not too sure your Cheese-Fondueness." Carbuncle says slinking up behind his boss like a puppy that has done something wrong.

"And who are those two new Biker Mice?" Limburger added, ignoring Carbuncle's response.

"I don't think they are even part of the Freedom Fighters from Mars, boss…" Pondered Carbuncle.

"How can you be so sure, Carbuncle?" Limburger snapped.

"Well, um, er…I-I am not too sure..." The strange looking scientist shrugs.

"It doesn't matter, first things first. We rebuild Limburger Tower then we can hire someone to find information on why that Hot-headed rodent had to leave, and where he went." Limburger said as he let his mind wonder off.

"B-but, boss, why would you care where any of the Mice go?"

"Because, my dear Carbuncle, I care where all my enemies go, so I can plan a sneak attack when they would be most vulnerable…" Limburger trailed off with an evil chuckle. "Come now. We have much to do."

"Yes, your Cheesy Quiche-ness." The hunchback, weasel-like, scientist bows and follows his boss. They head to the door that will lead them down the stairs and out on the streets where a Limo is waiting for them.

----------------------------

FIVE MILES DOWN THE ROAD… 

The Biker Mice lead the girls back to the Last Chance garage, where Charley awaited eagerly. She smiled hearing them hoot and holler over, yet, another victory against Limburger and his goons.

"You two were awesome back there." Throttle cheered as he got off his bike.

"Yes. We know," Mandy proudly gloated as she takes off her helmet, and bats her eyes at him.

"And your rides look really sweet too." Modo said marveling at the girl's bikes.

"Aren't they?" Kerry chimed. "They were custom made for us."

"Very classy." Modo cooed.

"Yes, Julie's father loved to design bikes as a hobby. In fact, he's the one that designed Vinnie's." Kerry explains.

"I was about to say that they look similar to Vinnie's style." Charley said, joining in the conversation.

"Wow, that is impressive." Throttle said intriguingly.

"Yeah, we were all saddened when he died in a mining accident years ago." Mandy explained with a bit more serious look.

"Oh, that's horrible." Charley said sympathetically.

"No one took it harder then Julie. After her mom died when she was young all she had was her dad. That is, until Vinnie and his mom started living with them. The four of them became a family." Kerry added.

"How did Julie's mom die, if you don't mind me asking?" Throttle asked out of curiosity.

Both girls at this point became very serious. They gave each other a quick glance before taking a deep breath.

"She died of a rare disease called, Diachronic Immunity Failure. They call it that because it is a total mystery on how it is formed. Doctors don't even know how to detect it or even stop it before it is too late. The disease slowly attacks mostly the immune system, lungs, and digestive system. It takes years for it to officially take over the entire body, and kills it." Kerry frowned.

"That doesn't sound too good." Charley cringed.

"No, it isn't." Mandy said, slumping over her crankcase.

"Whoa mamma..." Modo trailed off.

"Well, hopefully your friend, Julie doesn't have this illness." Throttle prays.

Mandy looks up and glares at Throttle. "Think again." She says with a growl. Without saying anything more, she gets up off her bike and walks down the road to clear her head.

"T-The disease is also genetic as well. Apparently it has been passed down from her mom, and her mom before her." Kerry sadly announces.

Throttle, Modo, and Charley are speechless.

"That is why we had to come and get Vinnie. Thanks to some of the informants from Mars, they told us where we could find him." Kerry spoke again. "You have no idea how worried we all were when news arrived that he had disappeared during the war. Well, you can imagine our excitement when the information came in that he was found, not only alive, but on the planet closer to the sun. About four and half years ago, Julie started showing signs of the sickness. It wasn't till a few days ago, when she started to really ask for Vinnie to come home."

"I wonder why Vinnie never really mentioned to us about any of you, or ever living on Titan?" Charley wondered.

"Vinnie's sometimes a really private mouse, Charley-girl." Throttle explains.

Modo looked over to see Mandy looking very upset. Feeling that she could probably use someone to talk to, he gets up off his bike, takes off his helmet before placing it on the crankcase, and walks over to her.

"You know, my dear ol' gray furred mamma would say 'you should always discuss your feelings rather then keep them bottled up until they want to explode.'" Modo says as soon as he got within earshot from Mandy.

Without turning around to face him, the white-furred burnette answers with a sniffle, "You have a very wise old mamma, Modo."

"I'm sure everything will be alright in the end." Modo tried to be supportive.

"No." Mandy sighed. "Everything won't be 'alright'. Julie will die, and I'm too much of a coward to sit and watch it happen. That is why I volunteered to stay here. Kerry stayed just to make sure she had my back incase anything went wrong." She said with tears building up in her eyes.

"Awe, don't talk like that li'l Darlin." Modo says, placing his good hand on her shoulder.

"You don't get. I use to date Vinnie. Even though we had been a mutual agreement, I officially broke up with him the day he left to join the war on Mars. Why, you may ask? It was because I didn't know how I would react if anything had happened to him." She whined. "That and I didn't want to be tied down 'waiting' until he got home. You know what the strange thing was? I think he wanted me to officially break it off. Just incase he met someone on Mars. In fact, he once told me that he wanted to go move back to Mars even before we heard about the war with the Plutarkians. Guess living on Titan was getting to boring for him." She finished looking shamefully at the ground.

Modo simply stood and digested everything she had to say. He nodded knowingly with every point she made. Mandy lifted her hand up to catch a tear that started to fall from her red eyes.

"Look at me. I'm crying." Mandy complained. "White mice don't cry."

"All Mice cry." Modo points out.

"Not on Titan…unless you are in mourning." Mandy sniffles.

"I see." Modo was unsure of what else to say.

"Thank you." Whispered Mandy.

"For what?" Modo asked innocently.

"For being a good listener." She said looking up at him thoughtfully. "Guess you were right. All I needed to do was say what my feelings were."

"Hey, any friend of Vinnie's is defiantly a friend of mine." Modo proudly stated.

Mandy smiles through her falling tears, and begins to lean up against Modo's chest. She wraps her arms around him to feel the warmth and comfort that his furry gray body gives out. Modo stands a little shocked with Mandy's actions, but then decides to bring his arms around the distressed female mouse. Mandy let's out a content sigh as she lets herself lose all sense of reality in the arms of this gentle giant.


	9. Pride, Joy, and Sorrow!

**Chapter 9: Pride, Joy, and Sorrow!**

**MEANWHILE, ON TITAN…**

Vinnie sits on the patio while he is enjoying one of his favorite beverages from his childhood. The taste almost reminds him of root beer from Earth. As he takes another sip he begins to look aimlessly out into the yard he once grew up in. He remembers the good times he had as a child. The games he and Julie would play…his very first 'test' kiss they shared in the bush at the end of the yard. Vinnie smiles when he also begins to remember the first riding lessons that Russell taught him when he was just turning seven. That led him in becoming a racer, something that made Russell very proud of Vinnie.

As he started thinking about his father figure, Vinnie suddenly felt sad. He felt there could have been something that he might have done that would have saved his life. Perhaps if he had found him minutes sooner in the collapsed mine? Yet, Vinnie let out a sigh, knowing that there wasn't much that could have been done. What had made him feel worse was when he had to tell Julie. She felt that her world had just crumbled around her. While Valerie took care of baby Marina, Vinnie cared for Julie. Now, he is back home. Julie needed him, so again he is caring for his best friend.

His sad expression became a worried one. Never had he seen Julie look so sick. It is understood why no one has tried to contact him sooner, being he was 'missing in action' on Mars. But he is glad that Janice, Kerry, and Mandy found him. Vinnie's heart ached when Julie tried so hard to stay up as long as she could to talk with him. She even stayed up to try and finish dinner. Eventually, everyone agreed that it was time for her to get some rest. Janice helped her to her room, while Valerie cleaned up the table, and Vinnie went with Marina to go outside. And now, here he is. Sitting out on the patio staring off into space while Marina practicing in doing her flips.

"Hey, Vinnie…Watch this!" Chirped the young child mouse.

Vinnie was so deep in thought that Marina's voice took him off guard. His head snapped up and peered over to where Marina stood. He realized that she is now on the fence in a pre-performance pose.

"I'm watching…" Vinnie calls back.

As soon as Marina got Vincent's attention, she began showing off a summersault, followed by two back flips, and another half-flip just before landing successfully on the ground.

That's very good." Vinnie cheered, clapping his hands. "Where did you learn how to do that?"

"From school." Marina said plainly.

"Oh, yeah… School…" Vinnie trailed off in memory.

Marina looked over to see Vinnie's bike sitting in the driveway. She walked over to it, and marveled at the details. Vinnie noticed that Marina has found an attraction to his bike, so he gets up to join her.

"You like it?" He asks her.

"Yeah! Where did you get it?" Marina responded intriguingly.

"Actually, believe it or not, your grandfather built it for me when I was a teenager." Vinnie proudly says.

"Wow, he did a great job." She said before letting out a sigh. "I wish I was old enough to remember him."

"He indeed was a great mouse." Vinnie smiled thoughtfully after his mentor.

"Maybe someday I can learn how to ride a bike like this." Marina inquired.

"You mean to say no one has taught you how to ride a bike yet?" Vinnie asked in almost shock.

"No. Mommy's been sick, and everyone else has been very busy taking care of her." Marina said in a disappointed voice.

Vinnie thought about it for a moment. He then snapped his fingers together as he came up with a solution. "Say, since I'll be home for a while, why don't we go find my old bike, fix it up, and I can teach you how to ride myself."

Marina's face beamed when she heard him say that. "You will? That's great!"

"I belief my old bike should still be in the storage around the back of the house…shall we go find it?" Vinnie suggested as he held out his hand to her.

"Ok." Marina cheered excitably.

--------------------------------

- Flashback -

**NINE MONTHS LATER!**

It is a calm afternoon on Titan. Saturn beautiful rings covered the eastern sky. The heat from the plant gives a warm comfortable environment for the citizens on the large moon. Many white Mice, along with other aliens that lived on Titan, all survive in a nice quiet community.

All is as it usually is, until a familiar cry fills the air.

"AA-OO-WWW!"

Many of the citizens rushed off the street and head for the safety of the sidewalks beside the buildings. Down the street a cherry red bike comes screaming up the hill. The bike immediately becomes airborne. It manages to capture a glimmer of light reflected from the planet in a cool effect. The rider on the bike shouts out a warrior cry before gravity brings the bike back down on Titan soil.

As the mouse and his bike ride off the pedestrians all started shaking their heads.

"That Vincent is just too reckless." One of the older female mice says.

"Indeed." Another elderly female mouse agrees.

Vincent pays no attention to some of the dirty looks he's been getting as he speeds down the street. There is more important thing on his mind. In fact, his mom just called him to come home as soon as possible. The news she gave him was something he's been waiting for months.

---------------

Valerie and Russell stood in the living room. Russell started checking to find extra film for his video camera when a familiar cry coming up the street catches his attention.

"Ah, sounds like Vinnie's here." He grins, twitching his ears.

"Honestly, I swear he gets more dangerous on that thing everyday." Valerie says, referring to her son's riding skills.

She peers out the window to see her son skidding his bike up the driveway. Before it makes an official stop, Vinnie hops up onto the seat. He jumps off doing a tuck and roll in the air before landing expertly on the other side of the fence. After, he tears off his helmet and tosses it beside his bike before running up to the front door.

Russell looks over her shoulder and smirks. "Well, at least he knows well enough to keep his helmet on until he is officially off the bike."

Valerie shakes her head as she turns her attention to the door where she expects him to rush in.

With an enthusiastic look, Vinnie throws open the door. "Mom! I got your message... Where is she?"

Valerie chuckled. "In her room, Vin."

"Whoo! I can't believe it finally happened." Vinnie cheered as he ran down the hall.

Russell places a hand on Valerie's shoulder. "You know the way he is acting you'd think it was his daughter that was just born." He smiled proudly.

"Yeah, well, that's my son for you. He can get so excited over anything." Valerie again chuckled.

-------------------

Julie sat on her bed as she admired the small little infant that is carefully wrapped in a soft pink blanket. It felt as if she was holding a fragile hairless doll. When she hears Vinnie's trademark yelp coming from down the hall, Julie starts giggling. How his presents always made her feel happy.

Like compulsive woodpecker, Vinnie taps lightly on the door. That was enough to get Julie laughing out loud.

"Just get in here, Vincent!" She laughed heartily.

"I came over as soon as I got the news." Vinnie said gleefully as he walked in.

"I'm glad you made it." Julie grinned.

"Hey, boot camp cannot keep away long from this." Vinnie chimed.

Julie frowned for a moment. "Why do you want to train to be a warrior so badly?"

"Well, you know, in case there is trouble in the Universe, I want to be prepared to fight. Everyone loves a hero you know." Vinnie puffed out his chest, flexed his arm, and grinned in a macho way.

Julie shakes her head in disbelief, and at the same time, couldn't help but to smirk over his ego. "Sometimes I think you take our stories a little too literally."

"No way, sweetheart, they speak the truth."

"Maybe you, perhaps…but I'm no hero, Vinnie." She says with a more serious look.

Vinnie paused and looked at Julie for a moment. He watched her look down at her newborn child with a sad expression.

"Sure you are." He finally tells her.

"How?"

Vinnie sits down beside his best friend, and with a finger he gently strokes the baby's cheek. "Every Mama is a hero."

Julie suddenly felt better with Vinnie's words. She looks up at him with a grin. "You know Vinnie. Sometimes you say can say the right thing at the right time."

"Awe, thanks." Vinnie grins, trying to hide his blushing. He looks down at the baby again. "C-Can I hold her?"

"Of course." Julie hands her baby into Vinnie's awaiting arms.

She sighed contently as she watched Vincent hold her daughter tenderly and making cooing noises at her. Apart of her wishes that if only he would have been the biological father, instead of Calvin. There had been so many adventures her and Vinnie went on as children. Each one of those adventures, of course, had been overly dramatized into their stories at the Tavern. Julie broke out of her thoughts when Vinnie spoke to her.

"Have you given her a name yet?" He asks her.

"Huh?" The question took her off guard for a brief moment.

"Well? You are not going to have her nameless are you?" Vinnie snorted.

"Heh, no…" Julie trailed off as she thought about it for a moment. She started smiling as she remembered one of the best times they had as a child. After thinking about it for a bit, she then turns to Vinnie.

"Remember those vacation trips we took with our parents to the moon, Marina?" Julie tells him.

"The one that orbits Neptune? Yeah… That was always a blast." Vinnie chimes. "Those cliffs were always fun to clime."

"I was thinking because that place held a lot of good times for us that I would name her after the moon…what do you think?" Julie says.

"Marina… I like it." Vinnie smiled.

-----------------------

**FIVE MONTHS LATER!**

Vincent got called in for his first mission from in the army. A tragedy had struck. One of the biggest mines had collapsed while there were workers still inside. Vinnie tries not to show any fear. This is always something he wanted to do, to be a hero and save lives. He stood focused on the mission at hand as he waited for the signal to go in and rescue the surviving minors.

"Vinnie!" A female voice called out to him.

He turned to see Julie waving at him. Beside her was his mom holding Marina, whom now has a full body of white fluffy fur.

"Vinnie, my father is in the mine. Please save him!" Julie tells him in a panicky tone.

As soon as Julie said that Vinnie's worry began to show. He had forgotten that Russell was going to do some routine inspection today. Slowly he nods at her, letting her know that he will do what he can to save her father. Vinnie swallowed a lump in his throat before for hearing the signal for the rescue team to go in.

Forty minutes had past and so far Vincent has been able to help save six injured white mice and four alien citizens from the mine. It concerned him that neither he, nor anyone else in the rescue team had seen Russell yet. As he headed further down the mine something caught his attention. When he looked down he recognized an arm berried under some heavy looking rocks. The arm belonged to a white mouse. Vinnie's heart began beating a mile a minute. Thinking that there might still be hope for this mouse, Vinnie bent down and started digging him out with his hands. After moving a few heavy rocks off of the body, he realized that he could use some help getting this victim out.

"Hey! I need some help over here!" He called out to anyone near by that would listen.

It didn't take long for two more cadets to run up and help Vinnie free the body from the debris. When they turned the mouse over, one of the cadets realized the condition of the body. Vinnie nearly threw up when he recognized the face to the body.

"We are too late for this one." The one cadet explains.

"No…" Vinnie trailed off, nearly breaking down in tears. "I know him… He was like a father to me…"

"I'm sorry. Maybe you should go out for some fresh air and clear your head for a bit." Another cadet suggested, patting Vinnie on the back. "We have everything under control here."

Normally, Vinnie would refuse the need to get some fresh air over something like this, but in this situation he feels that it would be a good idea. Like a zombie, he heads back outside the mine. His face and clothing are covered in dust and smoke. The image of Russell's lifeless body stung Vinnie's heart every time he closed his eyes. Everything seemed to appear hazy as he looked around outside. He began to pane over to the crowd of citizens watching the scene from behind a rope. The thought accrued to him that many of those people are here to see if his or her loved one would come out safely from the mine, or as a corps…like Russell will be soon. That is when he stopped scanning the crowed and only focused on Julie that just happened to have noticed him too. It was almost like the two of them could communicate telepathically. She started to appear really sad as soon as she caught the expression on Vinnie's face.

Vinnie knows that he has to go to her. Apart of him didn't want to, but the other felt it was part of his duty to tell her. He realized it would be better coming from him rather then one of the other solders on the rescue team. Practically dragging his feet, he walked up closer to Julie, Marina, and his mom. Julie was already shaking her head in disbelief as he approached them.

"No…" She whispered. Somehow she knew the news Vinnie was about to tell her was not going to be good. "Daddy…?"

Vinnie shook his head to show his own grieving. "I'm sorry, Julie… I couldn't save him…" He admitted tearfully.

Julie broke down in tears as she fell forward, right into Vinnie's arms. Valerie, still holding Marina, also found herself crying over the loss of the one mouse that had respected and loved her as an equal.


	10. The Promise!

Chapter 10: The Promise! 

- Present -

ON TITAN 

It has been a very long and hard, emotional week for everyone. While Julie takes her naps, Vinnie keeps himself busy by taking Marina to the garage and teaching her how to fix a bike. Marina has been waiting a long time for someone to teach her how to ride, so she hung on every word Vinnie was telling her.

Vinnie even stayed up really late every night in order to get his old bike fixed, and working up to par. He had forgotten how damaged it was when someone tampered with it before the Motorcross Race. At times like these, he wished Charley-girl were here to help fix this bike. She always has a knack for repairing Martian technology. Vinnie smiled as he thought about her and his bros. He misses being with them, and fighting Limburger's henchmen. The adrenalin rush he would get in doing hero work excited him. Not that growing up on Titan hasn't been fun he just needs something that is more intense in his life.

Once he heard about the war on Mars, Vinnie knew that was the kind of adventure he needed. Goodbyes were defiantly hard to say when he left Titan. He was a bit shocked, and yet, relieved when Mandy wanted to officially brake up with him. The two of them always seemed to have a boomerang relationship. It even made Vinnie fill dizzy to be going through with that. He figured that the reason why she wanted to stay on Earth when her, Kerry, and Janice came to get him was so she could not be around him.

'Who could blame her, really?' He thought to himself. 'Chances are, she would fall back in love with me just only to be crushed again when I would have to leave for Earth once more.'

It is true that apart of him still misses the times he had with his friends here on Titan, but on Mars he made new friends. Both Throttle and Modo became fast friends. In fact they were the first mice that greeted him and the other warriors from Titan. He is grateful to have friends like them. There were defiantly times that his life nearly bit the big one, and thanks to them he is still here. Vinnie wondered how they were now coping without him on Earth. He hopes that Mandy and Kerry would be able to help them if the chips were down. Vinnie realizes that they were tough ladies, but not really 'army' material. He was a little worried until Kerry called to let him know of the adventures they had. Vinnie had to chuckle when she told him that she and Mandy had to rescue the guys on their first day after he left.

Every night, as Vinnie toyed with the bike's engine he would constantly be reminded of the Last Chance garage and his friends. He knows he would be going back there again soon, but first he wants to make sure that everything would be ok here first.

Finally, Vinnie stood up from twisting a bolt tight with his wrench, and flicked the engine of the bike on. He let out a little cheer with pride before straddling on the seat of the old bike. Vinnie did a little test run just to make sure, and it sang as beautifully as the day he first got it. With a proud feeling, Vinnie headed for bed.

The next morning, Vinnie brings Marina out to the yard to begin her first lessons. Of course the very first lesson that Vinnie remembered being taught was to always keep your helmet on until you are officially off the bike. That lesson was properly told to Marina before she was even allowed to sit on the bike. At first Marina seemed to be a little wobbly, but with Vinnie's guidance she started riding like a pro in no time.

As a surprise, Valerie helped Julie out on the patio to watch her daughter ride for the first time. Valerie tried to get her to sit in the chair, but Julie wanted to stand so she can get a clear view of Marina. Vinnie's mom simply nodded.

"I need to go inside and finish making lunch." Valerie tells her. "You call me if you need anything, ok sweetie?"

"Ok…thanks Val." Julie responds in a soft weak tone.

Before Valerie walks back into the house she looks over her shoulder and smiles. The scene of her son teaching Julie's daughter brought back many memories of when Russell was teaching Vinnie how to ride for the first time.

"Mommy! Look at me…!" Marina cries out as she rides the bike past the patio.

"Very good, baby-doll." Applauded Julie. In order to hide her dizziness, she leans up against the railing.

"Your little girl is a fast learner, sweetheart." Vinnie explains to Julie.

"It helps when she has a great teacher." Julie replies, trying not to sound weak.

"Well, heh, heh. I'm not going to deny that." He begins to gloat. "I myself had an excellent teacher." Vinnie hints the fact it was her dad that taught him. Both he and Julie share a grin of 'knowing'. Vinnie then draws his attention back to Marina.

"Alright, sweetheart! Lets show your mom that special move I taught you." He calls out to the little rider.

Marina did a U-turn and headed straight for Vinnie. As soon as she got about five feet away, Marina threw on her breaks, skidding the back tire to the side. The bike was able to stop half a foot from where Vincent stood. Vinnie, himself, did not flinch as pebbles and dust flew up against his boots.

"Whoa-ho-ho, good one." Vincent chuckled in amusement. He gave her a proud grin to show that he had approved her little stunt.

Marina smiled back with pride.

"Hey, sweetheart! Did you see...?" Vinnie trailed off once he noticed that Julie no longer stood on the patio, but is now lying down on the spot. "No! JULIE!" He screamed as he ran up to his friend.

"Mommy?" Whispered Marina. She too hopped off her bike and ran up to her fallen mother.

--------------------------

- Flashback –

**TITAN,**

A YEAR LATER… 

"Mom! Julie!" Vinnie calls out as he runs into the house.

"Vincent, not so loud. We just put Marina down for her nap." Valerie snapped.

"Yeah, what's got you so excited?" Julie enquired.

"There's a war on Mars." Vinnie tells them with an almost giddy tone. "The whole planet is being invaded by a stinky alien race called Plutarkians."

"That's horrible." Valerie gasped.

"What's going to happen to the colonies on Mars?" Julie wondered.

"Well, they sent out a distress call to our general today. After he call in his best solders to leave in the morning to join in the Freedom Fighters on Mars. He also wants to send in Titan's secret weapon to go as well." Vinnie tells the girls with a grin.

"And what is this secret weapon?" Valerie asked, crossing her arms suspiciously.

"Me!" Vinnie chimed with his thumb proudly pointing onto his chest.

"YOU?" Both Val and Julie screeched.

"Vinnie, no…it's too dangerous. Your too young to be going to war." Valerie warned.

"Awe, mom… I'm not only the baddest, but also the fastest mamajammer in this entire Galaxy. I could ride circles around these Plutarkian stink-fishes." Vinnie said.

"Vinnie. I don't think you realize the seriousness of all of this." Julie calmly tries to explain.

"Look. This war IS serious. If these Plutarkians get away with running over Mars, then what's stopping them from coming here to Titan? I've been talking to the other solders that will also leave tomorrow, and we all agree that this is the only way to do this. Stop them now before they can spread to other worlds." Vinnie says firmly standing his ground.

"This is ridiculous…" Valerie growls as she stormed out of the room. She didn't want to show how much this whole thing was distressing her.

Julie stood shaking her head at Vinnie. Vinnie personally thought the news he shared was rather exciting, but now he is not so sure after seeing Julie and his mom's reaction.

"You know, Vinnie, I had a dream the other night. In that dream you went away, but when you came back…" Julie raised her left hand and covered the right side of his face with it. "H-Half your face wasn't there. It was covered in shadows."

Vinnie stood looking perplexed. He didn't know how to respond to what she was saying. Julie sniffled back some tears before continuing.

"You wanna know a secret?"

"What?" Vinnie asked.

"I'm afraid of death. It started when my mom died. But after losing my dad I fear it even more. I don't know what I will do if I lose you too." Julie admits as she stands trembling.

"Sweetheart, you are not going to lose me." He said, placing a firm grip on her shoulders. "I'm just going to Mars, our home world. I will be battling along side with some of the best Freedom Fighters. It will be just like in our stories. I will be a hero by getting rid of a couple of smelly old alien fish heads."

"Just promise me you won't get yourself killed."

Vinnie smiled calmly at her. He placed his hand underneath her chin and said, "I'm the best rider ever. My bike and I are the greatest team. No way can I get hurt."

Julie attempts to smile before reaching up to give him a hug.

"I love you, Vinnie."

"I love you too, Julie." Vinnie stood there holding his best friend for a bit before deciding to say something. "Julie, if there is anything you need of me don't be afraid to contact me. I'll come home immediately. Ok?"

"Thank you, Vinnie. Oh, I miss you already." She says not really wanting to let go.

"Hey, I'm going to miss you too." Vinnie said, feeling a bit emotional with all of this. "Perhaps after we defeat the Plutarkians, maybe you, mom, and Marina would like to come live on Mars? I was thinking of moving back there someday anyways." He asked.

Julie pulls back from their hug, and looks up at him. "Maybe…" She trailed off in thought. "Say… You want to go to the Tavern tonight? You know, for one last story before you go." Julie suggests.

Vinnie smiled, hoping that she would ask that. "That sounds great." He says.


	11. Her Fears, No More!

Chapter 11: Her Fears, No More! 

- Present -

ON TITAN 40 MINUTES LATER… 

The doctor came over as soon as he could when Valerie called. After checking on Julie he allows Marina to visit her while he went to talk to Vinnie, Janice, and Valerie about the situation.

The elderly white mouse made sure that he was out of earshot from Julie and Marina before speaking. "I'm afraid the disease has fully taken over. It's only a matter of time now." He calmly speaks in a sorrowful tone.

"How long do you think, Doctor?" Janice asks, clinching her hand up to her chest.

Shaking his head, the doctor replies, "It could be minutes, hours… Who knows?"

Immediately, Vinnie and the girls hung their heads. Each of them all felt pre-sadden of what is happening. One by one they again looked up towards Julie and Marina. Mother and daughter held hands as the spoke to each other. Julie knows what is happening to her, and is trying not to show her fear to her daughter.

Vinnie looked over to his mom and Janice. They both looked back up at him.

"Look, I don't want to sound morbid, or anything. But I feel we should bring out the list of people that should know about this." The doctor said calmly.

"Ok… I'll do that…" Valerie chocked.

"I-I think I'll get Marina outta here. Maybe take her outside for a bit…" Janice suggested.

"And… I'll stay here with Julie…" Vinnie concluded in almost a whisper.

Meanwhile, Julie looked up at her daughter's beautiful red eyes and smiled the bravest smile she had the strength to muster.

"Hey, baby-doll…" She spoke in a weak tone.

"Hey, mommy…" Marina answered with a returned smile.

"You did so well on that bike earlier…" Julie complemented.

"Thank you, mommy. Maybe later I can show you more stuff that Vinnie taught me?"

Julie frowned, but again tried her best to stay happy for Marina. "Maybe…" She responded, trying to show hope. "I want you to be a brave girl, now, you hear me."

"I will… You're going to be ok now, right?"

Julie paused. She didn't know how she was going to explain all of this to her precious daughter.

"Well… Lets just say I'm going to be 'resting' soon." She spoke trying to mask her trembling voice. The tears were also starting to mist up in her eyes. She hates knowing that this could be the last time seeing her little girl.

Her mother's expression caused Marina to feel sad too. Tears started forming in her eyes too.

"Oh, don't cry baby-doll. Be brave. Like a warrior." Julie pleaded.

Marina choked back a sob before answering, "Ok."

Janice and Vinnie slowly walk up behind Marina. Julie looks up to see them. Janice mouths the words 'I'm going to take her out of the room now' to Julie while pointing down at Marina.

Julie nods before looking back at her daughter. "Alright. You go with Janice now. I need to talk to Vinnie for a moment."

With a pouting look, Marina nods her head at her mom. She turns with her hand held up for Janice to take. Together they leave the room. Vinnie watches them leave before turning to face Julie. She looks so peaceful as she lay there with her eyes closed. Vinnie sits down in the chair beside the bed and takes her hand gently into his. He winced when he realized how cold and clammy her hand felt. There was a time when Vincent took her hand, and it felt as warm as a summer's breeze in the city of Chicago back on Earth.

He started to rub the back of her hand softly with his thumb. This motion seemed to have brought a bit of life back into Julie's eyes. She started to blink them open. Vinnie beamed a smile to see her looking up at him.

"Hey…" she said with a weak smile.

"Hey." Vinnie responded, not knowing what else to say.

"Say, why don't we blow this pop-cycle stand and get of this rock." Julie joked with a wry smile.

Vinnie let out a nervous chuckle, "You have to get better first, sweetheart." He said, even though he knows the truth. It even impressed him on how brave he is being about all of this.

"Guess what, Vinnie…"

"What?"

Julie motioned a weak finger for him to bring his ear closer. "I'm not afraid of death anymore…" She whispered into it.

Vinnie didn't know how to respond to that. The words pierced his heart like a sharp dagger. Julie sensed his discomfort with what she just admitted to him. In fact, it too made her a little uncomfortable too. She then thought of a way to distract both of them of that certain subject.

"Tell me about Earth, would ya, Vinnie? I shell like to go visit there someday." She said with a hopefully look on her face.

Vinnie smiled softly. He always admired her adventurous attitude towards life.

"Earth is a beautiful place. With blue skies, big oceans, and green grass as far as the eye can see." He said poetically. "There are also roses there, plenty of them."

"I love roses… I hear that there is a different rose for each planet." Julie breathed.

"Yeah, you would be amazed on how many different kinds there are on Earth though… Oh, and the colors that each style are… amazing." Vinnie continued.

"What kinds of colors are there?"

"Well… There are pink ones, red ones, yellow ones, white ones, and multi-colored ones… They even come in all sorts of shapes and sizes too."

Julie closes her eyes and absorbs the information into an image in her mind. "I can see them… How beautiful…" She whispers with a wide smile.

"Earth is nothing like Mars or even Titan. There is no chance that my bros and I will allow Plutarkian stink-fishes destroy it for their personal greed. We fight the good fight there. We fight to protect the planet for its beauty, and for the people that live there."

"People like your friend, Charley?"

"Yeah, people like Charley."

"You are lucky to have found a friend like her." She tells him truthfully.

"Thanks sweetheart."

Julie suddenly gave a serious look. She took a few short breaths before speaking. "Vinnie, I have a favour to ask of you."

"What is it?"

"You remember the day before you left home to join the war?"

"Yes." Vinnie answered, not too sure where she is going with this.

"You remember the promise you said to me?" Julie said.

Vinnie paused as he tried to remember his exact words. "That, if you ever needed anything to contact me immediately."

"Yes…" Julie nodded as her tears began to form. "Vinnie… I want you to take Marina back to Earth with you. I want you to look after her when I go."

"Sweetheart," gasped Vinnie. This request took him off guard; he sat speechless with his mouth-hung open. How could he look after a little girl? Heck, even he knows that he can barely look after himself at times. How would he be able to do 'hero' work at the same time looking after a little girl? He looked at Julie not too sure how he would be able to let her request down gently. "I-I-I would love to…b-but…"

"Please, Vinnie. You're the only one I can trust. I know you will protect her. And besides, she really likes you and looks up to you." Strings of tears start falling down her cheeks from her watery red eyes.

Vinnie's heart felt heavy. Why did she have to say that? He looks down at Julie in shock. She looks so sad and disparate lying there. He knows that he cannot go back on his word now. Vinnie began to nod slowly.

"Alright. I will look after Marina for you." He said trying to hold back on crying.

Julie smiles through her tears. She closed her eyes feeling as if there was a huge weight had just been lifted up from her shoulders.

"T-There's something in my eye," Vinnie says as tries really hard to stop the tears from forming in his eyes. He promised himself to be brave for Julie. There was a pause, while Vinnie tried to control his emotions. Finally Julie reopens her eyes and peers up at him.

"Vinnie?"

He breathed in a sniffle before answering, "yeah?"

"Tell me a story…you know, like the ones we told growing up as kids." She asked softly.

Vinnie forced a smile on his face before he began. "On the great moon, Titan, there are these two heroes. They are, no doubt, an unbeatable team. The power they have could not be compared to anyone else's…"

"What were their names?" Julie grinned with a whisper.

"Well… there is 'Vincent, the Manly-Mouse', and 'Julie, the Gorgeous Seductress'… They are the baddest mamajammer's on this side of the Astor Belt. "

"How good were they?" She asked as if she didn't know what the story was.

"They were…" Vinnie paused in order to control a burst of emotional saddens threatening to irrupt. "They were so good, that the bad guys gave up before the fight would barely ever begin."

"They were that good?" Julie questioned, closing her eyes once more.

"Yes. Even if the bad guys who were dumb enough to try to beat them, they were met with defeat. Julie and Vinnie were not only heroes to the good citizens of Titan, but to themselves as well… They looked out for each other with respect and support. Everyone around them knew that they were the best of friends…"

As Vincent continues with the story, he could hear Julie's breathing slowing down and sounding very shallow. Never the less, he goes on even though his tears were starting to escape from his eyes. At this point, Vinnie refuses to look at Julie as he told the last part of the story.

"I love this part…" Julie murmured faintly with a small grin.

"Nothing could stop these two. They are both strong, and brave. Not only that, but also the most beautiful duo on Titan. Vincent captivated the women with his macho muscles, and charming smile. Julie lured the men with her grace and beauty. Her personality is as enchanting as a Titan rose in bloom. And always as Vincent and Julie would ride off on their bikes at the end of each battle, Julie would say…"

Vinnie paused, hoping she would say her line. Instead all he heard was a deep sighing breath, then nothing. He can tell by the heavy lifelessness he was feeling from Julie's hand that something is wrong. Vinnie bit his lower lip. He knows what just happened, but apart of him is still in denial. Unable to control his emotions anymore, he lets out a sob.

"S-S-She said…" Vinnie trembled as he turned to confirm if Julie had passed on. With his other hand, he reached up and touched her lifeless cheek.

"S-S-She said… Ride free, citizens…" He finished the story before resting his head beside Julie's had and allowing his grieving to take over.


	12. Goodbye’s are Hard!

** I've borrowed the song 'The Rose' by Bette Midler for this particular chapter.**

**Chapter 12: Goodbye's are Hard!**

**EARTH, **

**TWO HOURS LATER**

Throttle and Modo got up this morning, and set out for their usual patrol around the reconstruction area of Limburger's tower. They wanted to make sure that Limburger wasn't going to cause any problems for a while. Being that things looked quiet enough with no unusual action being shown, the boys then headed to the Last Chance Garage. The last week and a half has been very strange, if not, quiet without Vincent being here. However, his friends Mandy and Kerry, which came to temporally take his place while he visited his sick friend, have been anything but boring.

Without question, for the past week both Throttle and Modo noticed the girls worrying about their sick friend back on Titan. To help take their minds away from the sadness that awaits them back home, the boys felt that they should take the girls down to the river to have picnic today. They have just bought the food. As usual, it's of hot dogs and root beer. Once they arrive at the Last Chance garage, Throttle and Modo paused once they noticed that it seems unusually quiet.

They knew that the girls were still there, because the door was open and their bikes were parked just inside the garage.

"Hey, is everybody awake in here?" Modo called out in deep voice.

Both boys walk inside to see Charley, Mandy, and Kerry sitting quietly with blank sad faces at the table.

"Hey, why all the long faces?" Throttle asked.

Charley slowly looks up to both Throttle and Modo. "Vinnie's mom just called us on Mandy's bike phone. Julie passed away this morning." She said in a sorrowful tone.

"Awe, geez…" Throttle winced. His shoulders slumped forward.

"I'm sorry to hear that…" Modo says sympathetically.

Kerry lifts her head to meet the boy's gaze. The white fur on her face looked stained from previous tears. Her eyes still has a watery glisten to them as more tears are threatening to fall. "Janice is coming to pick us up tomorrow morning. We will be heading straight for the memorial."

Mandy bends her head forward onto the table. Using her arms as a pillow she attempts to hide her face. How she hates to have people seeing her cry.

Throttle and Modo stand, speechless. They both feel the girls sorrow.

------------------------

**ON TITAN,**

**THE NEXT DAY**

By the time Janice came to pick up the girls, Throttle, Modo, and Charley had already talked Kerry and Mandy into bringing the three of them along too. The boys felt that right now Vinnie might need his bros there for moral support. And besides, they were kind of interested in visiting the place where Vinnie grew up.

Once they arrived on Titan, Charley looked up and immediately was taken in by the scenery. Throttle and Modo as well became captivated with the view of Saturn's rings glistening in the sky.

"Are you three coming?" Janice's monotone voice caught their attention back to the real reason why they came to Titan.

Throttle and Modo got on their bikes, and Charley straddled on behind Throttle. As soon as they were all ready, Mandy, Kerry, and Janice guided them to the home where Vinnie grew up.

At first Throttle and Modo thought the girls might have stopped in front of the wrong house. No house on Mars never looked as good as this one. The yard looked perfect for practicing bike riding. Both Biker Mice looked at each other in a perplexed state. They wondered with all the gloating and bragging Vinnie has ever done over his own vanity why did he not ever mention that he was _rich_? Charley even found herself at awe over the view of the house.

"Would you three prefer to stay out here, or would you like to come in?" Kerry said in an almost sarcastic tone.

"Uh, right…" Throttle trailed off. He immediately started walking up towards the front door where the girls stood waiting.

Modo and Charley followed, while at the same time looking around at everything else around the property. Charley turned towards the driveway to see Vinnie's bike. It looked as if no one has been riding it for almost a week now. It wasn't like him to not go a day without riding his bike. She began to worry how the normally energetic, wild mouse was handling the death of his friend.

The instant the girls entered the home they were greeted by a middle-aged female mouse with white fur. Each girl gave her a hug and kiss on the cheek. Janice whispered something into her ear. As she pulled away, the elderly female looked past her shoulder to see Throttle, Modo, and Charley.

Mandy looked over to the living room before rushing in. Charley followed her with her eyes. Mandy walks right up to Vinnie and kissing him lightly on the lips before giving him a big hug. As they stood there hugging each other, Mandy begins to cry once more. Part of Charley felt sympathy for them both. The other part couldn't help to feel a bit jealous over the kiss. She had to remind herself that it probably didn't mean anything, and that it was just a friendly kiss to show support over the loss of a friend.

A small figure caught Modo's attention. He looked down to see a young female white furred mouse. She looked up at him with big sad red eyes. Modo smiled down at her.

"Hey, li'l darlin'. What's your name?" He asked her in a friendly tone.

The little girl didn't answer, she just continued to look sad. Slowly she starts to back away then turns to run into the living room and right up to Vinnie. Vinnie breaks out his hug with Mandy to bend down and pick up the little girl. She wraps her arms around Vinnie's neck and berries her head in his shoulder.

"Cute…" Throttle mentions sarcastically about the little girl's rude exit.

"I wonder who she is?" Charley asks.

"Her name is Marina." A soft calm female voice spoke.

Charley and the guys turn to see the middle-aged female mouse look up at them. She glances up and down at each of them then stops to notice Modo's arm. The elderly white mouse gives him a sympathetic look. Modo realizes why she is staring up at him. He grins bashfully as he holds his metal arm with his good one.

"Don't worry, ma'am. It doesn't hurt." Modo says.

"Sorry?" The white furred female asks a little perplexed.

"My arm? It doesn't hurt." Modo tells her again, trying to break the nervousness of the situation.

"Oh, heh." The elderly female chuckles lightly as she finally gets the joke. "I'm Valerie Van Wham by the way." She announces while holding out her hand ready to greet in a shake.

"Van Wham?" Throttle asked in almost shocking tone as he shook her hand.

The middle-aged mouse smiled, "Yes. I'm Vinnie's mom. And you three must be Throttle, Modo, and Charley. My son has told me a great deal about you. He will be glad that you came, as I am. I just wish our first meeting had happened under better circumstances." Valerie tells them in a half sigh.

"Yeah, well, funerals are not usually my thing either." Throttle admits, as he had to berry many friends during the war on Mars. "But we are here to help and support Vinnie anyway we can."

"Thank you." Valerie smiles. She then gestures for Charley and the guys to follow her into the living room. "I will have to ask you to please give Vinnie some space right now, though. He is taking Julie's death pretty hard."

"We understand." Modo assures.

Charley, Throttle, and Modo look up to see Vinnie still cradling Marina and talking to Mandy, Kerry, and Janice. Vinnie dressed in a black suit, not his normal entire, but fitting for this service. From the corner of his eye, Vinnie finally notices his friends standing beside his mom at the end of the living room. Throttle, Modo, and Charley try to give a smile and wave to Vinnie, only to be surprised that he simply turned away from them.

Valerie let out a sigh. She reached up and clasped a hand on Throttle's shoulder. "As I said, give him space. He is glad you are here, it's just that he's too emotional right now."

"Yeah…" Throttle says trying not to sound hurt with Vinnie's 'cold shoulder' act.

They continued to watch as Vinnie gently rocks side to side with Marina, who is now crying uncontrollably. Modo's heart began to ach as he might have figured out the young child's sadness.

"Marina…? Her momma…?" He stammered to ask Valerie.

"…Was Julie. Yes." Valerie answered almost in tears. "Her final wish was for Vinnie to look after her. So, if you three will be able to tolerate it, she'll be heading back to Earth with all of you." She adds with a half smile.

At first Throttle, Modo, and Charley stood with a stunned expression. The thought of Vincent being a Guardian parent scared them. It then dawned on them that no matter what, when the chips are down, Vinnie is a very reliable mouse.

"You have no worries, ma'am." Throttle proudly speaks. "Vinnie's our bro. We will do what we can to help him care for the little lady."

"That's right, Mrs. Van Wham." Charley adds.

"We will be more then happy to help raise li'l Marina." Modo concludes.

Valerie can't help but to smile broadly at these three brave souls. "I'm glad that Vincent found such great friends he can count on… Oh, and please, call me Valerie. 'Mrs.' just sounds so…old." She finishes with a cringe.

At that moment, the guys could see the resemblance between mother and son in Valerie's actions just then. It took a lot for all three of them to suppress a snicker.

"Sure thing, Mrs.…er, I mean…Valerie." Throttle corrected himself.

"Why don't you guys have a seat here?" Valerie asked as she addresses the couch. "I'm just going to attend the other guests for a while. If you get hungry, over in the dinning area is some little sandwiches and goodies." She adds as she points towards the other room down the hall.

"Thank you, ma'am." Modo says with a little bow towards Valerie.

Valerie shakes her head in disbelief. "So well mannered…" She mutters to herself before walking away.

------------------------

15 MINUTES LATER… 

After awhile Janice, Mandy, and Kerry stands up beside a large picture of Julie. Surrounding it is a beautiful bouquet of Titan roses. Janice steps forward and clears her throat.

"Excuse me. May I have your attention, please?" The blond mouse announces. "First I want to thank you all for coming. As you know, we are here to pay tribute to one of the greatest mice that ever lived on Titan. Many of you might have known Julie from the Youth Tavern a couple of years back. Her beautiful and charming attitude attracted so much attention. No matter what, Julie always had a positive comment for everyone she knew. Making friends was a talent she had indeed. In fact, if it weren't for her, many of us would have never known each other. It was her that started the tradition for us to go to the Tavern every weekend after school, and party. Of course it didn't feel like a party unless Julie and Vinnie were there. The two of them together always brought in the action to a dull moment. Even after Vinnie left to join the Freedom Fighters in the war against the Plutarkians on Mars, Julie was able to liven the scene just by showing up. Some nights she would even bring her daughter, Marina, to show off with pride."

Kerry stepped up next. "During the brief stay on Earth, Mandy and I wondered how could we bring a perfect closure to a perfect mouse and friend. It was when a new friend had taken us to a place called a shopping mall that we discovered a song that, we felt, describes Julie perfectly. We heard it being played in one of its stores." The redhead said.

"The song is called 'The Rose'. It's seems fitting being that Julie always had a thing for roses. She even told us that there is possibly a rose that grows on each different planet in the Solar System." Mandy spoke while trying not to break out in tears again. "And you know what, I think she was right." The brunette mouse looked down and smiled knowingly to Vinnie.

Vinnie tries to smile back, but finds it too difficult at this moment. Mandy presses play on the recorder that she set on the table beside them. Soft music begins to play. With a deep breath, the girls ready themselves to sing.

Janice starts of the first chorus.

Some say love, it is a river

That drowns the tender reed

Some say love, it is a razor

That leaves your soul to bleed

Some say love, it is a hunger

An endless aching need

I say love, it is a flower

And you, it's only seed

All together Mandy, and Kerry join Janice in the next couple of verses.

It's the heart, afraid of breaking

That never learns to dance

It's the dream, afraid of waking

That never takes the chance

It's the one who won't be taken

Who cannot seem to give

And the soul, afraid of dying

That never learns to live

When the night has been too lonely

And the road has been too long

And you think that love is only for the lucky and the strong

Just remember in the winter

Far beneath the bitter snow

Lies the seed

That with the sun's loves, in the spring

Becomes the rose

Once the song ends, all three girls hang their heads down, as well as everyone else in the room, for a moment of silence.


	13. Grieving Hearts!

Chapter 13: Grieving Hearts! AN HOUR LATER… 

Janice, Mandy, and Kerry see the last remaining visitors outside to say 'goodnight', while Vinnie still stands with Marina in his arms and his mom beside him. They are whispering amongst themselves as they stare at the picture of Julie. Throttle, Modo, and Charley wait patiently on the couch where Valerie ushered them to sit earlier. Throttle and Charley nibble on a sandwich they took from the dinning room table. Modo finishes his sandwich then distracts himself by picking up a medium size framed photo of a young male mouse with white fur. In the photo the child appears to be eight years of age, and he is standing in a 'macho' pose with a cocky grin. Modo couldn't help but to smile. He pulls the photo over towards Charley and Throttle. They both immediately recognize the child, and smile over the once innocent looking Vinnie.

"Awe, how cute. But it still doesn't beat his baby picture…" Charley joked, remembering the time when she saw Vinnie's baby photo in his wallet a few years back.

That comment got both Throttle and Modo chuckling in a low tone. Modo then places the photo back on the little table beside the couch where he had found it.

"Come on, sweetheart. Lets go get you tucked in now." Valerie's voice suddenly spoke up.

Throttle, Modo, and Charley look up to see Valerie taking a very tired Marina out of Vinnie's arms. She then walks up towards her son's friends. "I think he's ready to see you now." She whispers to them before heading out into the hallway.

Charley and the two boys nod their heads before getting up from the couch. Vinnie still had his back to them. As if he is in a hypnotic trance, Vinnie stares at the enlarged picture of the late Julie. He certainly appears that he is still coping with the loss of his friend. Vinnie first wanted to make sure his emotions were under control before greeting his friends. There would be no way he would end up crying in front of them. What would hey think of him if he were to do that?

'Why did they have to come here?' Vinnie thought to himself. His reputation means a lot to him. To express the weakness of crying in front of them could be catastrophic to his ego. From behind him, he can hear the gears moving in Modo's arm. The feeling of Throttle's calm, but yet, distinctive presents draw nearer as well. Lastly, Vinnie can smell the sweet fruity sent of Charley's shampoo. 'They are all here, and standing behind me.' He thought again. 'Time to put on a happy face…' After taking in a deep breathe he is now ready to face his friends.

"Hey guys…" Vinnie finally turns to speak with a chipper tone. At least as chipper as he can make it sound. "I didn't expect you would actually come here."

"You're our bro, Vin, of course we came." Modo assures the young white mouse.

"I-I'm sorry for being kind of rude to you all earlier. It's just…" Vinnie tries to explain to them.

"Don't worry about it, Vincent. Your mom explained it to us." Throttle says calmly.

"We are more worried about you, though. How are you holding up?" Charley asks in a soft caring tone. She can tell this 'act' he's playing now is to just to hide his pain.

"Sweetheart. You know me… I'm coping…" Vinnie trails off with an attempt smile to show his gratitude.

There was a brief moment of silence. Modo begins to again look around the interior of the house. "Say, you have a nice place here, Vinnie." He says, trying to politely change the subject.

"Thanks bro. Actually, my mom dated the mouse that owned all of this. She and I just happen to have lived here and became part of his family." Vinnie lets out a deep sigh, and picks up a picture of him as a child, across of him sat a young female mouse with white fur. Sitting between them a white furred adult mouse holding both of them in a hug. Vinnie hands the picture to Charley and his bros before continuing. "Russell was his name. He was the closest thing to a father I had growing up. During my first year after joining the army, he was killed in a mining accident." He paused, not wishing to finish the story. It hurt him to be reminded of the exact moment when he discovered Russell's body in the mine. His face grew long and distant all of a sudden. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't 'act' anymore. He began to turn his face away from his friends to hide the emotion that is threatening to show up.

Charley and the guys are both shocked and saddened to see Vinnie like this. He was in so much grief that his once vibrant loud voice is now very quiet and calm. Throttle can tell just by looking at Vinnie that he hasn't had much sleep during the entire time since he returned home.

Just then the door opens and Janice, Mandy, and Kerry walk back in. They turn to see Vinnie and his friends in the living room. Together they sauntered over to them. Mandy reached up to give Vinnie a hug, which he accepted willingly.

"Valerie asked us earlier to stay and help set up the spare rooms for your friends. Then we ourselves will hit the hay. It has been a very long day for us." She explains to him. Vinnie simply nods in response.

"Throttle, Modo, Charley it's great you three came. I'm sure Valerie will come out in a bit to show you to your rooms." Janice says before heading out to the hallway.

"Thanks…" Charley replies.

"G'nite." Mandy whispered to Vinnie before pulling away from him.

"Nite." He responds tiredly.

Mandy and Kerry waved to the others before following Janice out into the hallway.

"So, what do you want to do now, Vinnie?" Charley carefully asks.

"Actually, guys, I too am a little tired so I think I'll head off to bed." Vinnie announces. He fears that if he hangs around much longer his emotions might over power him again.

"Ok, bro." Throttle nods.

"Yeah, you go rest… You look like you need it." Modo added, patting Vinnie's back.

"Don't forget, Vin, we're here. If you need anything just let us know." Charley concludes before stepping up to give him a hug.

The motion took Vinnie off guard. It wasn't normal that Charley would just give him hugs. He figures that she is simply showing sympathy for the loss of his friend. Vinnie returned his gratitude; he wraps his arms around her and holds her tight not wishing to let go. He can feel the tears building up under his eyelids, but he can't let them fall, not in front of his bros. It takes a lot of his focus to prevent him from crying again. Slowly he began failing. The caring he is receiving is becoming a little more then he could handle. Throttle and Modo sensed that Vinnie is trying not to cry, and they both knew that he should really release his emotion in times like this. Standing on the left, Throttle places his hand on Vinnie's on the back.

"Its ok, bro. Let it out." He said in an assuring, calm tone.

Modo, on the right, also placed his good hand on the white furred mouse's back. "Throttle's right. We won't hold anything against you."

That was simply enough to get Vinnie to start crying uncontrollably. It was like someone had just broken down a wall that was put up to keep this ego-macho mouse in control. The emotion became so intense that Charley started shedding a few tears with Vinnie. Modo lifted one of his steel fingers up his good eye to catch a tear that was threatening to escape. For the next little while, Vinnie accepted his friends' support and allowed himself to grieve.


	14. A Rose by Any Other Name!

Chapter 14: A Rose by Any Other Name! TITAN, FOUR DAYS LATER… 

Throttle, Modo, and Charley got to witness a whole other side to Vinnie they had never expected to see. Through out all the crazy stunts, and macho-egotistical gloating, Vinnie indeed had a calm nurturing side to him. He would often express it more so whenever he was around Marina. What made all of this more unnatural had been the fact that Vincent barely said much of anything, unless someone spoke to him first.

Most of the time Vincent is found on the front patio, sitting on the bench, looking out on Titan's landscape. His mind is filled with memories of his childhood. Again this morning Vinnie puts on his black sweater. It is not surprising that he still in mourning over the loss of his best friend. He knows that Charley and his bros are worried about him, but he just feels like he needs some time to reflect.

The only ones that seem to know what Vincent needs is his mom, Janice, Mandy, and Kerry. They often need to explain that it is best to give Vinnie the space he needs. In fact, Mandy is the only one he talks to sometimes. This morning Mandy decided to stay home to visit with her parents instead coming over right away. She promises to come by later with Janice and Kerry to help with clean ups and to go through more of Julie's old things.

As he sat on the patio, he wondered if he'd ever feel the same again. It wasn't till now how important Julie really was to him. The other thing on his mind is the fact that he is now Guardian to her daughter, Marina. He could only hope he will be a good person enough to raise her as well as saving the galaxy from Plutarkian scum.

Vinnie's mind then began to wonder back to the trips to the moon orbiting Neptune. How he missed those days. He wished he could somehow bring those days back. If there had been one thing that could have saved Julie this fate, he would have done it in a blink of an eye. A small sigh escaped through his lips. He knows that no matter what he will have to face the fact that Julie is now gone, forever.

Just then the front door opens, and his mom steps out to join him on the bench.

"How are you doing?" She asks.

"I'll survive." He replies in a calm tone.

"I know you will, son. But your friends are still inside. They are very worried about you." Valerie explains.

"I-I just can't talk to them right now, mom. There is still a lot going on in my mind."

Valerie places her arm over his broad shoulders. "Perhaps, and even though I do not fully approve, you still have to go back. I believe there is that unfinished business with those Plutarkians you still have to deal with."

Vinnie leans forward to rest his head into his hands. Without even looking back to his mom he answers, "You're right."

"Listen Vinnie, I was thinking of showing your friends some of our old video tapes. It would be great if you'd join us." His mom said in a nurturing tone.

Again Vinnie pauses before answering. Slowly he turns to her. "Which videos were you planning on showing?" He asks.

"Well, I was planning on showing one of our vacation trips to the moon, Marina. Then perhaps a few others that we thought your friends might enjoy." Valerie smiled warmly.

Vincent couldn't help but to smile back at his mom. She always seemed to help make things better, even when things looked so bleak a long time ago before moving to Titan.

"Come on Vinnie," Valerie says as she stands up, "everyone is waiting for us in the living room." She holds out her hand as a jester for him to come with her.

"Alright." He replies, while taking her hand and standing up.

The both of them enter the house, and head straight into the living room.

"Hey everyone, look who I got to join us." Valerie says with pride.

"Vinnie, pull up a chair." Modo calls out form the couch.

"Thanks bro." Vinnie says as he takes a seat at the opposite end from Modo. Both Charley and Throttle sit down between them. Marina runs into the living room and heads straight for Vinnie. He picks her up and sits her on his lap. Charley smiles warmly at Vinnie for she never would think of seeing him with such a parental nature.

Valerie leaves the room for a bit to get a medium size box from the hall closet.

"Russell loved to record any special event with this old video camera." Valerie cooed, coming back into the living room, carrying the box under one arm, and holding up an alien looking camera in the other hand.

"Whoa, I almost forgot about these." Vinnie said as his mom puts the box down in front of the couch. He instantly picks one up and read the inscriptions 'Vinnie's first bike riding lesson'.

"Say, is there still the tape of me winning the Motorcross Race in there? I lost my copy a while ago." Vinnie asked digging deeper inside the box.

"Vinnie stop that!" Valerie snapped while she slapped his hand out of the box. "We are going to find the vacation trip to Marina first. Then we will find any other video you would like to see."

"Aaawww," Vinnie pouted, while rubbing his now sore hand.

"I want to see the Motorcross Race after the vacation trip one." Marina smiles up at Vinnie. He smiles back, and kisses the little mouse on her forehead. Mentally he admires how much she looks like her mom. Having Marina close to him helps the healing process of Julie's death.

"Ah, here it is." Valerie chirped, holding up the video marked 'Vacation trip to Marina'. She instantly got up and walked up to the TV and placed the tape into the VCR. After pressing play Valerie walks up to the couch. She sits on the arm of the couch, leans up against her son, Vinnie, and wrapped her arm around his shoulder.

On the TV screen starts of with a snowy image. It clears up and shows a male adult mouse with white fur. He is wearing a winter garment, due to the cold environment around him. At first it appears that he is prompting the video camera. He smiles approvingly knowing that he had straightened it well.

"Hi, I'm Russell. And thank you for joining us here on the moon, Marina." He announces while addressing the beautiful view behind him.

_In the background two familiar children play on the ice, while a familiar adult female mouse watches them carefully. Everyone in the video is wearing winter coats over their white furred bodies. In the sky a large blue planet floated, and far off in the distance a yellow star, known to be the sun, shone brightly. The Male mouse turns around and walks up to the female. Together they watch the children play._

_Russell wraps his big muscular arms around the attractive female mouse. "Hey there beautiful." He coos in her ear._

"_Hey there yourself, handsome." She purrs back at him._

"Man, I look so young back then…" Valerie comments as she sees her self from 16 years ago.

On the video, both children run off camera and Valerie snuggles against Russell as they continue to watch the beautiful scenery. A few seconds later the little girl returns holding an icicle that took on a familiar shape.

"Look daddy," she chirped. "This piece of ice looks just like a Titan Rose."

"That's mommy!" Marina says pointing to the TV.

"Yup, that's sure is." Vinnie says in a thoughtful smile.

"_It sure does, sweet-pea." The male mouse on the video swooned._

"_I like roses, daddy. They are very pretty." Little Julie said cheerfully. "Do you think this could be a different kind of rose for this moon?"_

"_I don't see why it couldn't be." Russell answers her._

"_Is it true, daddy, that every planet in this Solar System has a special rose?" Julie inquires._

"_Sure. Anything is possible, baby-doll."_

_The little boy comes up beside Julie. He is eating something._

"_Look Vinnie, don't you think that this is pretty?" Julie sang._

"_Eh, it's a flower." The boy shrugged before taking another bit of the food in his hand._

"_Vinnie!" Snapped Valerie on the video. "I told you no more sweets. The last thing I need is to chase after a Hyper-active Psychopath." _

_Little Vinnie snarls up at his mom and said, "I'm not a psychopath." He then shoves the rest of the pastry into his mouth and walks back off camera._

_His mom lets out an exasperating sigh. She knows that he has already started to 'act up'. In hopes for moral support, she turns to look at Russell._

"_What are you looking at me for? He's your son." He chuckles light-heartily._

_Valerie scoffed, "Boy, are you going to get it…" She starts to chase the male off camera._

"_Hey, Vinnie… Come here." Julie calls out after putting the icicle down in a safe place._

"_Yeah, what?" Vinnie talks back from off camera._

"_Come here," she pleaded again._

"_What?" Vinnie asks as he walks up to Julie._

Without warning Julie stretched up to kiss him on the cheek. Vinnie makes a disgusted look as he rubs his cheek with his arm sleeve.

Throttle and Modo couldn't help but to snicker and raise an eyebrow at Vinnie. Vinnie noticed his bro's odd stares and shrugged at them.

"What? I was only a kid then…" He tries explaining with a smirk. "…I can't help it if I was irresistible to the ladies, even at a young age."

"Oh brother…" Modo mutters while rolling his eye skyward. Every day since the memorial, a little bit of the old Vinnie is returning.

"_Bet you can't catch me." Julie's voice is heard in a taunting expression from on the video. She then bolts off screen._

"Oh yeah?" Vinnie grins. How he loves a challenge. He shoots off like a rocket chasing after Julie. The two of them come back into view further down the icy field. Together they stop running and begin to slide even further.

_Valerie and Russell come back into the picture. They watch as their children run back towards them and off the camera's view once more. Behind the scene you can hear Vinnie and Julie laughing._

_Russell spins Valerie around and gives her a kiss. "See, I told you coming here would be fun." He tells her after pulling back._

_She opened her mouth to reply when something off screen caught her attention. "VINCENT!" She screamed. "Get down from there!"_

"_But mom..."_

"_Don't you 'but mom' me. I said get down!" Valerie yelled as she marches off screen._

Throttle, Modo, and Charley started laughing knowingly. They have an idea that Vincent is being mischievous.

"Boy, you sure are not much different now then you were back then, are you Vin?" Throttle chuckles.

"Harrumph. Laugh it up you guys." Vinnie scoffed.

"What was he doing, Valerie?" Charley asked.

"He was trying to climb a cliff... With sharp, jagged edges." She answers while giving her son a grim look.

_On the video, Valerie re-enters the scene while spinning her son around in a circle before letting him go gently to slide down the ice, laughing. "Hey Vinnie… Wanna race?" She says as she readies herself to start running._

"_OK!" Vinnie shouts excitably. He jumps up and prepares to run. Valerie starts running down the icy field with Vinnie quickly catching up. Once they had picked up enough speed, they start to slide as far as gravity would let them._

_Russell, whom is finding this little race very interesting, calls out to them. "Hey, Val! When are we going to get that kid of yours a bike, and start entering him in races?"_

_In the background, Vinnie and Valerie are still running and sliding in the opposite direction. They are practically side-by-side._

"Wow, Valerie. You were pretty fast." Throttle points out, impressively.

"Throttle, honey. When you are raising a child like Vinnie, speed is a necessity." Valerie replies as-a-matter-of-fact.

"I hear that." Modo chuckles and holds up his good hand to Throttle. The too of them give each other a high-five.

"Heh, now being young also had its advantages during that time. I can't run like that anymore, I'm afraid." Valerie said as she admits to herself of the fact she is getting older.

"Awe, and here I was going to ask if you wanted to race…" Vinnie chuckles sarcastically.

Valerie huffs at him before playfully flicking her hand towards the back of her son's head. Vinnie, still chuckling, moves forward fast enough for her swing to miss. She smiles for she is glad to hear her son laugh again.

_Russell appears back on camera with long pointy ball, one very similar to a football on Earth. "Hey, Vinnie!" He shouts out._

_Vincent stops to look back at Russell. "What?" He shouts back._

"_Go long!" Russell pulls back the ball and throws it as hard as he can towards Vinnie._

Vinnie starts running out further in order to catch up to the ball. The little mouse leaps up into the air and catches the ball before landing. The landing was less the perfect as he slips on an ice patch and falls on his face.

Modo and Throttle start howling with laughter so hard that they nearly fall off the couch. Charley also starts laughing out loud, as well as Marina. Seeing their Vinnie as a little tyke running and slipping on the ice amused them. Vinnie simply chuckled and looked up at his mom, who winced at her son's fall on screen. It still disturbed her seeing that for the second time.

"_Oh geez." The young Valerie on the TV flinches._

_Russell, now beside her, starts to chuckle in amusement. _

"_Russell that's not funny. He could be hurt." Valerie scolded._

"_Awe, he's alright. See, Valerie, he's getting up." Russell says pointing down the icy field._

"_I caught it! Aa-oooww!" Vinnie cheers as he holds up the ball with pride._

"_Daddy, I love this place. I want to come here every year." Julie grins as she jumps up beside her father._

_Russell walks up towards Julie and disappears as heads behind the camera. "We will see, baby-doll. Why don't you say goodbye to the viewers before I shut the camera off?"_

Charley looked over to catch a glimpse of Vinnie looking very thoughtful and quiet over this last part of the video. Little Marina snuggles close up to his chest. Vinnie wraps his arms around her in a gentle hug. Charley couldn't help but to give them a small smile. 'How natural Vinnie looks in a fatherly way with his friend's daughter.' She thought to herself.

"_Ok!" Julie cheers. She clears her throat as the camera gets in position. "I would like to thank everyone out there in TV land for joining us today on the moon, Marina. The absolutely, GREATEST vacation spot on this side of the Asteroid Belt. Hope you enjoyed the show, goodnight! And I love you all! Oh, and one more thing. RIDE FREE! Mwaah!" She finishes off by blowing the camera a kiss. Suddenly the image is cut off. The TV now shows a snowy screen once more._

THE END!

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I want to thank you all for your interest in my story. Your reviews and comments mean a lot to me. You may be wondering what made me think of writing a story like this. Well, from during the episodes that had flashback scenes, I noticed that there weren't many White Mice running around, only Vinnie.

The only other time I saw another 'white mouse' was in the episode 'A Scent, A Memory, A far Distant Cheese'. The scene when Vinnie's wallet dropped on the floor there is a glimpse of a picture, and in that picture is a female mouse with white fur and brunette hair (hence my character, Mandy, heh hehe). I figured that White Mice might be a rare breed on Mars. Much like white tigers and white buffalo are here on earth. Either that, or White Mice traveled off to another part of the Solar System.

The hint came to me during the first episode 'Rock 'n' Ride' when Vinnie mentions him winning the Motorcross Race to one of his bros, Throttle. Now it has been a while since I have seen the show, but I was sure I saw Saturn in the background of the video Vinnie was showing. It was at that moment that I wondered if Vinnie had actually grown up somewhere else besides Mars.

Well, that's my theory anyway. Your comments on this subject are always welcome. Keep an eye out for the second half to this story. It will be called "Fathers". Take Care!

Raven Child.


End file.
